


The Hokage We Need

by Prof_Wayne



Series: A New Era [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama, Eventual Romance, Fights, Future Couples, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Mature Uzumaki Naruto, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Political Alliances, Politics, Popular Naruto Uzumaki, Retelling, Romance, Slow Build, Trust, Worldbuilding, relationship building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2019-10-13 04:56:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 156,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17481596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prof_Wayne/pseuds/Prof_Wayne
Summary: Sarutobi is dead...Konoha is left without an leader. During this time of hardship, the Fire Daimyo has called Jiraiya to attend the meeting to appoint a new Hokage. After much debate, the Daimyo has decided on two people for Hokage and has asked Jiraiya for his opinion on who should be the Fifth...The Legendary Sanin Tsunade...Or The Son Of The Fourth Hokage.[Inspired By Traban16]





	1. Decision

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone and welcome to the first chapter of my story "The Hokage We Need" which was inspired by "Traban16" and his story "Naruto The REAL Fifth Hokage."
> 
> I read that story and loved the premise, and wanted to give my own take on it. While that story is serious but has many comedical elements, this story will be more serious and focused on his relationships and the world around him and how it's changed. I will have some humor of course, but not to the extent of Traban's story(Which is a really good story and I'm not taking anything away from it)
> 
> Also of note, I will not have any character bashing in this story, none at all. I don't like character bashing as I feel every character has both good and bad qualities to them, and while some characters early on can be annoying/hated(Like Sakura) I feel like they get much better as the story goes on, and that it outweighs the bad from early on. Thats my take atleast.
> 
> There will be Harem elements in the story, as many girls will indeed fall for Naruto(Gaining the power of Hokage can do that for ya) but this is not a Harem story. Naruto will end up with only one girl, and though I've not decided on exactly who that is, I hope to give all of the girls atleast proper development.
> 
> I also changed Naruto a bit to better fit the story, he's still goofy but has a hidden mature side, and has been trained by Jiraiya since he was young(I felt like this was the only way to make him realistically strong enough to even be considered)
> 
> Finally as I said at the start, with this being inspired by Traban, you may see some similarities, especially early on. I really loved some of the chapters(Especially the inauguration) so forgive me if I steal a few lines hehe.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy.

The rain felt like shurikens as it pelted the palace that housed the Fire Daimyo, as the guards surrounding the area stood unmoving, stone-faced, only willing to move at the slightest sense of danger.

Inside of the building sat the Fire Daimyo himself at the base of a long table, his council sitting on the left, while the right contained delegates from the Hidden Village In The Leaves known as Konoha, visible unrest could be seen on their faces.

No one said anything, as the Daimyo had instructed that the first person to speak would be someone he personally called to attend the meeting. But the silence was deafening; if one listened carefully, they could hear the nervousness from the Konoha's breaths. They were, after all, attending a meeting they had hoped to only attend as a celebration, not as an emergency meeting, but it couldn't be helped.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Konoha's third Hokage, had been killed in battle by his former apprentice and a member of the legendary sannin, Orochimaru. Unlike when the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had perished, there was no previous living Hokage who could take back over.

So this meeting had to happen, the Fifth Hokage of Konoha had to be decided and fast. The more time they wasted, the weaker they looked to the outside world, it didn't help that they were straining their resources having to rebuild the village from Orochimaru's attack.

As the silence grew louder and louder, it was finally shattered as a knock was heard on the door, and after one of the servants opened it, the legendary Sannin Jiraiya walked in with a darkened view, making the delegates look at him in confusion. Once the door was shut and the Anbu made sure that they still weren't being spied upon, Jiraiya spoke.

"I've arrived as you have asked, Daimyo-sama." Jiraiya stood straight and bowed, a rare sight to many, but his actions nailed home just how serious the current situation was. Everyone had to be attentive and had to make sure their minds were entirely focused, for their decision would impact Konoha for years to come.

"Ah, Jiraiya! I'm glad you came; you are critical in the discussion we are about to have." Those words from the Daimyo made the delegates a bit tense, but also a bit relaxed as well. While it would be unorthodox, nobody would oppose the Daimyo is he chose Jiraiya as the next Hokage, except for maybe one man.

Jiraiya nodded as he walked forward as one of the servants led him to the other end of the table, directly facing the Daimyo, which made him feel a bit on edge. After sitting down and getting accustomed to his strange sitting position, the Daimyo continued.

"Now, this meeting has been called because my dear friend Sarutobi has breathed his last breath, and has departed for the next life. Because of this, Konoha is without a Hokage, something that immediately puts our great country at risk."

Everyone in the room nodded as the air began to apply pressure to them once again, the relief that Jiraiya had seemingly brought had already vanished, as the gravity of the situation re-emerged from the shadows.

"As such, though it has only been a few days, I believe it is wise to go ahead and name the next Hokage of the village" The Daimyo readjusted himself as he closed his fan and pointed it at Jiraiya, as everyone's eyes followed it, more faces of relief began to appear as they did. "Jiraiya, I would like you to be the next Hokage of Konoha!"

The smiles of the delegates were immediately visible, showing that almost all of them approved of the pick. While it was true that Jiraiya was perverted and they were a bit worried what laws he might impose because of that, there was no denying his strength, and he would, at the very least, be a fair ruler.

However, not everyone agreed with the pick…"Daimyo-Sama, I object to this."

The man to speak was Danzo Shumura, a power-hungry man who was known to many as a shady individual. Though his actions had never been proven, many knew of the tales that had followed him throughout the years, and his brutal practices he used on people. "Hm? Ah...Danzo...Is there a reason for your objection?"

"It's rather simple, Jiraiya has not been in the village for years now, instead traveling the world to write his fantasy books. While no one in the village can match his strength, I don't feel he would have the commitment for the job and may leave one day out of boredom."

The other delegates scowled at Donzo; they knew what his plan was. But they couldn't say anything about it, everyone was allowed to object, and it was generally unacceptable to refute an objection especially since it was partially correct about Jiraiya.

The Daimyo opened his fan back up as he began using it on himself again as he cast a side glance at Donzo "I understand your concerns Danzo, but Jiraiya has always been a favorite of mine, I believe he would do a fantastic job."

Danzo gripped his sleeves but didn't show any emotion on his face; he couldn't argue back against the Daimyo, lest he wants several Anbu agents cutting him down. So he stayed quiet and waited for the conversation to develop.

After no one else spoke up, the Daimyo folded his fan back up and pointed it back at Jiraiya "So Jiraiya...Do you accept the position of Hokage of Konoha?"

There was silence for a moment, as the delegates began to breathe sighs of relief and were already preparing for the trip back when Jiraiya once again bowed "Daimyo-sama...While the proposal greatly honors me, I have to refuse."

One he had spoken, all the delegates froze and looked at him in shock. They couldn't believe it. They were confident that Jiraiya would accept the position, especially since some of the older ones who had known him for years, knew that was his original plan when he was young before he set off on his adventure.

Despite the shock from the delegates, the Daimyo quietly opened his fan back up and began fanning his face as he kept his content look "Well, I was expecting that type of answer, unfortunately, so it came as no big surprise. But it does allow me to tell you the true reason you were called here."

Jiraiya looked up from his bow before straightening himself as the other delegates all looked at the Daimyo, confusion in their eyes.

"Since I knew you wouldn't accept the position, I called you here for a different reason." The Daimyo snapped his fingers as one of his servants brought him a file, as he looked down at it. "After discussing with my advisors, and looking over the battle report for myself, I have decided on two candidates for the job and wanted to hear your opinion on them. You know both of them after all. One is currently residing in the village, while the other went off on their own journey just like you did."

Everyone in the room immediately knew who the Daimyo was talking about when he mentioned the one who went off on a journey like Jiraiya; however, they didn't know who he was talking about still residing in the village. However, some of the delegates did begin to look nervously at each other, as Danzo began to smirk, it had to be him they all thought. He did, after all, control a part of the Anbu, even if it was secret to the public.

Sensing what threat could arise should the Daimyo choose the one from the village, one of the delegates, the Jonin Commander Shikaku Nara, rose up as he spoke: "Daimyo-sama, I wish to nominate Kakashi Hatake for the position of Hokage!"

The other delegates looked at him in surprise, but all of them except for Danzo just nodded and seemed pleased with his sudden surge of inspiration. While Kakashi had his question marks, it was a no contest between him and Danzo.

The Daimyo continued waving his fan as he raised his free hand to his chin. "Hm...I've heard good things about him. He's the Copy Ninja who helped take out the Mist Swordsmen Zabuza. Indeed his skills are impressive; however I have reservations about his mental state, as I've read he had an unpleasant childhood, and he still carries some of that hatred and sorrow with him. Until he can let go of the past, I'm afraid I cannot consider his nomination."

Shikaku bit his lip in frustration as the grin on Danzo's face reappeared, and once he saw that, Shikaku couldn't contain himself "Then I ask that you reconsider your decision on Danzo!"

The other delegates didn't flinch, but all of them could read like a book when the words left his mouth. They were all thinking the same thing, but none of them spoke, out of fear that Danzo might retaliate once he assumed office.

However, the Daimyo just raised an eyebrow as he kept fanning himself "Hm? I don't have anything to decide on when it comes to Danzo."

"Huh? You mean. He's not the one from the village you have your eyes on?" The Daimyo simply swung his head, causing relief to wash over the delegates while Danzo again clenched his hands, but didn't retaliate. He would continue to let the situation play out, and while he may not be chosen, he could easily get close to the Fifth and easily become his or her successor when they...Mysteriously...Pass away. "Then...Who is…"

"Before that...Jiraiya!I want to hear what you think about my first choice." The Daimyo closed his fan once again as one of the servants laid a picture down on the table that everyone recognized as the Daimyo pointed towards it "Another member of the Legendary Sannin, Tsunade. She is the granddaughter of the First Hokage, so I believe she has the heritage for the job. Her skills as a Ninja in both the battlefield and the medical field are unmatched, and though easy to anger, she has a kind heart. Do you believe she should be the fifth, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya looked down at the picture as a nostalgic smile came upon his face. How long had it been since he last saw Tsunade, yet alone as young as she was in the picture? Everything the Daimyo had said was true, nothing was wrong. But Jiraiya's smile vanished as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "My only worry is that she wouldn't want the job. I don't know if she would be willing to accept all the responsibility that came with it, especially after all she has been through"

"I see...Somehow I was expecting that answer as well…" The Daimyo spoke as the servant picked the picture up off the table as an unnerving silence returned. "Well...I wish to give you the other candidate I have thought of; However, I want to reveal something."

Everyone in the room gave the Daimyo a confused look as he reopened his fan before he began speaking.

"Konoha is the most important village of our country, as it houses our strongest military and economic impacts. Because of this, I don't wish to have a new leader installed every decade or so, as every time a new one is installed, it creates a time of weakness, especially during an emergency meeting such as this. While I would have preferred Jiraiya or Tsunade, the truth is that with them, we may be having another one of these meetings in just a few years due to their age, something I do not want."

The delegates nodded, understanding where the Daimyo was coming from; After all, a big reason that Minato was chosen was that it was thought he would rule for decades, yet…

"So my choice that currently resides in the village is someone young, very young; in fact, younger than Minato was when he was chosen." Everyone raised an eyebrow and looked at each other, was there someone that young and powerful in the village? If there were, they would still need to train to reach that power. "If you're wondering how young...Well, they were competing in the Chunin exams just a few days ago."

When the Daimyo said that, everyone in the room mentally gasped and gave him looks of confusion. Someone that young!? While it was true they would rule for decades, could they give someone that young that much power? After all, the Hokage was the absolute ruler of the village and could do whatever they pleased. It wasn't a democracy, it was an absolute dictatorship, and giving someone that much power at a young age? It was so risky that it made some of the ones present visibly nervous.

However, Danzo seemed content with the idea, which scared some of the delegates. He seemed content because someone that young would easily be swayed, and with as high of a position he held, Danzo could quickly gain the power he wanted, even if he didn't become Hokage. So to him, he was content with that choice.

However, another question arose, just who was he referring to? They wanted to narrow it down to the winners, but since the exams went unfinished, that gave them a lackluster bubble to choose from. If they included everyone, then the obvious ones that jumped out were Sasuke Uchiha for his incredible power, Neji Hyuga for his family ties, and Shikamaru Nara for his intellect.

Yet all three posed problems. Sasuke was powerful, but he was fueled by hatred and revenge for his brother, who had massacred their entire clan, so could he be trusted with that much power? Neji had shown incredible chakra control, yet he was brash and often overlooked foes, which lead to his defeat against Naruto Uzumaki. Finally was Shikamaru, who had a great intellect that could be matched by almost no one, yet he was incredibly lazy, and often paid little attention to conversations.

Out of all of them, Shikamaru seemed like the best choice, since his dad was the Jonin commander. Also despite his laziness, he knew what he was doing most of the time, so he would at least be knowledgeable with missions and the such. He was the least risky choice out of them all.

"So Jiraiya, would this choice be better than Tsunade?" Jiraiya gave a confused look, how should he know? He didn't even know who they were after all.

"Daimyo-sama, I'm afraid I can't answer that if I don't know who you are referring to."

"Oh? But since it concerns you, it should be rather easy to figure out. After all, the young one I'm talking about is the only son of Minato Namikaze." As soon as the words left his mouth, both Jiraiya and Shikaku went wide-eyed and stared at the Daimyo as sweat came down their face. They were the only ones in the room who knew about Minato's son, so they immediately knew who he was talking about.

Naruto Uzumaki...The Jinchuuriki of Konoha…

Jiraiya tried to speak, yet no words left his mouth; How could they? To be asked on the spot if your godson could become the most powerful man in your village!? What could he reasonably say?! "Also Jiraiya, I'm not choosing him because of his bloodline. I know you have been training him ever since he was young in secret, and that he held back in his Chunin Exam. After all, it was thanks to your training that he was able to help save Konoha during the attack."

That was true. Ever since Naruto was a baby, Jiraiya had secretly watched out for him, and once he was old enough, he began secretly training him to become a ninja, making him more powerful than anyone other Genin, in fact, his power could be compared to a low ranking Jonin. He was the perfect one to lead the future of Konoha, but…

"Daimyo-Sama!" Shikaku stood up and slammed his hands on the table as sweat rolled down his face "I-I know how powerful he is...But you know how the village treats him! If he were to become Hokage suddenly, we would have full on riots in the streets, or worse!"

"They only treat him like that, because of Sarutobi's decision not to reveal the truth to anyone. I feel that if the truth was revealed, and he continued to prove himself, then everyone would eventually accept him. Of course, him becoming a good leader would speed up the process."

"Um…" One of the delegates, a woman from the Retired-Ninja council named Shinya, raised her hand and spoke: "Who exactly is Namikaze-Sama's son?"

"I will only reveal that if Jiraiya deems him ready...If not...Then I advise you to begin searching for Tsunade." Jiraiya gritted his teeth as he looked at the table he was sitting at. Could he do it? Could he in good faith say Naruto was ready?

No, he couldn't. At the same time, was anybody ready? Just a week ago, Sarutobi was alive, and the village was celebrating the Chunin Exams...Now? Now they had no leader, and the village was in ruin as many ninjas were still missing or presumed dead.

So was anybody ready? The only answer to that...Was Hell No...Nobody was…

He knew this, and Jiraiya had to accept this...It wouldn't be a popular decision by a longshot, but...Naruto might be the Hokage They Need, But not the one they deserve or want…

Jiraiya took a deep breath as he stood up from his chair and looked directly at the Daimyo as he gave a smile "I fully support his nomination as Hokage!"

"J-Jiraiya…" Shikaku looked at him with worry, but as soon as he saw the resolve in his eyes, he felt a sense...Relief? No...Perhaps it was gratitude? Whatever it was, it made him feel at ease, and after a moment he stood back up as well "I, as being the only other one here to know of Namikaze-Sama's son, also fully support his nomination as Hokage of Konoha!"

The Daimyo looked between the two of them before he smiled and shut his fan as he stood up and pointed the fan upwards "Then it's settled...With this, I appoint Naruto Uzumaki as the Fifth Hokage Of Konoha!"


	2. Calm Before The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the sun rises over the village of Konoha, a new chapter is about to be written. Everything is calm and quiet, but as time marches forward, so does the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone and welcome to the second chapter of "The Hokage We Need"
> 
> This chapter more accurately represents how long the chapters will be, and is the main reason it's out so fast. I didn't want people to think the first chapter would be how long the chapters actually are, so I finished this chapter up to more accurately show how long these chapters will be.
> 
> Second off, I want to state that I watched the English Dub of Naruto for most of my life, and switched to the Sub sometime last year. So because of that, I may get some of the honorifics wrong. While I hope it's not too bad, if it's distracting for some people, then I'll simply not use them unless it's the obvious ones like sensei or sama.
> 
> Thirdly, I mentioned that nothing is set in stone for this story, and that include relationships. While I don't plan on everyone getting together(I even plan to eventually kill some characters though that will be WAY down the lines) I do wish to hear who you might want to see get together. I'm open to any pairing, weather it be Naruto and Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura, or even Sakura and Ino. I'll consider everyone and am always looking for ideas.
> 
> Finally, as a new writer, I apologize for any mistakes I made and am always trying to improve. I hope this chapter is enjoyable, and am always looking forward to reading your reviews weather they be positive or negative.
> 
> With all that said, I hope you all enjoy!

As the sun began to rise, shining the village that slept underneath it, a sense of nervousness and calm could be felt throughout the village. Three days ago, the delegates from the village had been summoned to the capital of the country to decide on the Fifth Hokage, but despite the delegates returning the previous night, there was no word of who was chosen.

Many villagers had seen that some of the delegates had worried expressions and looks of disbelief, which arose fear in some that a new Hokage couldn't have been agreed upon.

However that wasn't the truth, that was far from the truth. The worries and fear that were expressed on the delegates weren't because a new Hokage wasn't chosen, it was because, for many of them, the person who had been selected was despised by almost everyone due to the lies that had been spread throughout the village over the years.

However, for the ones who despised the pick, they had a small glimmer of hope left. Despite being chosen, the Jonin of the village still had to convene and vote to approve or disapprove the pick.

Before the delegates had left, ten Jonin had been picked to vote on the matter and as soon as the delegation had returned, the ten Jonin convened in the Hokage's manor as the jonin commander began the vote.

* * *

Once all the Jonin had assembled, and the ANBU had secured their location, the meeting began as Shikaku sat down at the end of the table that had been prepared as he took out the nomination letter the Daimyo had given him as he began to speak. "I know that before the delegation had departed, many of us assumed that one of the Legendary Sannin would have been chosen. I'm here to announce that we were partially correct in that assumption, as Jiraiya-Sama was chosen to be the fifth...However…"

Shikaku looked over the Jonin who all seemed to know what he was about to say as told by their looks of doubts.

"...He refused the position. Moreover, Tsunade-Sama wasn't chosen either…" Everyone in the room narrowed their eyes and nodded, not letting their surprise slip through as Shikaku continued "The person who was chosen is currently residing in the village, and it's someone we all know very well."

The Jonin glanced at each other but still didn't say anything, but thoughts of who it could be did start to enter their minds. Many were already assuming that it was one of the shinobi at the table, which at the very least made the vote a foregone conclusion If that was the case.

"One of us here knows this person more personally than the rest of us...Kakashi…" Everyone's eyes looked to the other end of the table where Kakashi was sitting, who simply raised an eyebrow at the sudden call out "I ask that you vote on this nomination not because of personal feelings, but because of whether you believe in the nominee or not...Understand?"

Kakashi kept his confused gaze as he leaned onto the table and responded: "I hope you're not saying I've been chosen."

"No...But, Someone from Squad Seven has been…" When the words left his mouth, the air suddenly became thin as all the Jonin looked at each other in confusion and genuine surprise. Even Kakashi was shocked by the news as he narrowed his gaze.

"Does this mean that Uchiha kid has been chosen?"The one to speak was the leader of Team Ten, Asuma Sarutobi, the son of the recently departed Third Hokage. "Because while it's true he's powerful, we have to realize that his brother drives him, not a good quality of a leader."

Everyone nodded, that was true, Sasuke was driven by revenge for his brother, and giving him the power of the Hokage could mean all of the countries resources would go to killing Itachi and nothing else. "Not to mention, but he's currently resting in the hospital after losing his battle to that sand ninja known as Gaara, right?"

The next Jonin to speak was Choza Akimichi, the father of Choji and a famous Jonin due to his years of service. "Indeed, the reports state that after being severely injured, his teammate, Naruto Uzumaki, was the one who finished the battle."

Kurenai Yuhi was the next to speak as the doubts and signs of rejection were already appearing across the Jonin's faces before Kakashi finally spoke "Sasuke is strong and has a ton of potential, but he's not mentally ready for a job of that magnitude. It doesn't help that Orochimaru currently has his eyes set on Sasuke, and by naming him Hokage, we're essentially inviting another invasion whenever Orochimaru recovers. Because of that, I can't in good faith vote to approve of Sasuke…"

Everyone nodded and were all prepared to vote the same way when a voice rang out.

"Well, it's a good thing that he wasn't the one chosen then…" All the Jonin looked at Shikaku after he spoke as more looks of confusion filled the room.

"What? I thought you said…"

"I said it was someone from your team...But I never said it was Sasuke Uchiha…" Kakashi kept his confused looked centered on Shikaku until his eye went wide as he started to realize what he meant.

If it wasn't Sasuke, then that left only two options. The chances of Sakura being chosen were non-existent thanks to her limited ninja skills and judgemental mindset. That means…"You're telling me that the one chosen was…"

"...Yes, Minato Namikaze-Sama's son. Naruto Uzumaki. Has been chosen as the Fifth Hokage of Konoha…" When Shikaku spoke, everyone became stone-faced and unmoving as they stared at him, the words not sinking into their heads.

Naruto? Naruto Uzumaki? The kid that was despised by the public because of his birth? The kid who played pranks on all of the villagers? The kid who many thought had only beaten Neji because of a fluke?! That Naruto?!

After the initial shock and confusion, everyone began to look around before all of their eyes landed on Kakashi, who was still staring at Shikaku."So Kakashi. Can you vote with reason and not emotion? Or should we have someone replace you for the vote?"

"...I can vote just fine but...Naruto is stronger than he lets on, and his mental fortitude is stronger than Sasuke's but. The risks that would come if he was installed as Hokage would be huge. Not only would the public most likely revolt in the streets, but the Akatsuki would immediately make us their number one target."

"Trust me; I discussed this at length with the other delegates on the way back. Many of them were split of course, while some argued that the public would come around in time, the others said that we would be thrown into civil war long before that happens. It's something we do have to consider. Does anyone else have anything to question?"

"Yeah, I do." Asuma spoke as he took the cigarette from his mouth and crushed it in between his fingers as he looked at Kakashi "What do you mean by saying Naruto is stronger than he looks?"

"I mean exactly what I say...I always had a feeling that Naruto was holding back, but that was proven true in the Chunin Exams. No regular person can have a grueling match with Neji like he did, only to turn around and be able to defend the village from another jinchuriki like himself successfully. I don't care if Gara did fight Sasuke beforehand, it's still superhuman either way."

"But he was always rated near the bottom of his class when it came to being a Ninja! Why would he purposely hold back?"

"I have someone who can answer that." Shikaku interrupted their conversation as he lightly tapped on the table before speaking again. "I figured that we would all have a lot of questions, so I brought the person who could best answer them that wasn't Naruto himself."

Soon after, the door to the room opened as Jiraiya walked in with a stern and severe expression as all of the Jonin eyed him, no one making a sound until the door was closed and the room was scouted over once more.

"I have brought Jiraiya-Sama here, as he has some revelations that might surprise you all." Jiraiya nodded as he walked over and stood beside Shikaku before he began speaking.

"As I'm fully aware, you all have many questions regarding Naruto, and I'm here to answer them all. But before that, I want to state off the bat that Naruto has my full support for being the next Hokage. After discussing it at length with Shikaku, he also fully supports Naruto."

The Jonin all eyed Shikaku, though he didn't flinch as he allowed for Jiraiya to continue.

"I was listening in, and after hearing Kakashi and Asuma talk to each other, I want to state that Kakashi is right about Naruto is holding back. The reason for this is because ever since he was a child, I have been raising and training him in secret." All the Jonin tensed up a little but still didn't say anything as he continued "I wasn't always around for him, as I did, of course, travel the world, and it seems that during the times I was absent, he would often play pranks on everyone in the village. While this may seem immature, I want to make it clear that he did this because he wanted attention, the public always either ignored him or cursed his very existence, and when I wasn't around, this was how he was able to cope."

A few guilty looks could be seen on some of the Jonin as they knew the reason the public hated Naruto was because of the Thirds decision to never tell the truth about how Naruto had in a way, saved the village. Many of the villagers thought he was the reason for the very beast that attacked them; of course, many directly placed blame on him for the loved ones they lost.

"The reason Naruto was always near the bottom during school was that I feared that if the villagers believed he was getting stronger and learning, they might amp up their attacks against him, so I told him to always barely pass, to make it seem like he was getting weaker. When he was assigned to Kakashi's team, I told him to act dumb and not show off any skills, just in case of spies. Now I'm not saying he doesn't have a playful personality by the way, but I am saying he has a serious side that I only ever see."

Everyone seemed to nod and understand, but before Jiraiya could continue, Kakashi stood up and looked at him "Then let me ask something...Until he's approved, he is still my student, and I have a right to know. How strong is Naruto?"

The others looked at Jiraiya impatiently, also wondering the same question as Jiraiya nodded and spoke "Of course, everyone in this room has a right to know. Now if we are comparing him to the other Hokage's, he's easily the weakest one. Of course, the flip side is that he is also the youngest one, and has the potential to become the strongest one this village has ever seen. But regarding his current level of training, he can be compared to a fresh new Jonin."

"That strong huh…?" An air of seriousness swept through the room, though Naruto would most likely have trouble against everyone in that room, the fact that at just thirteen years old, he could already be compared to a Jonin was a testament of how strong he could become.

"Any other questions?" Kakashi didn't say anything else as he began to sat back down, but as he was doing so, Asuma nodded as he stood up and pulled another cigarette out and placed it in his mouth.

"We've touched on this already, but I want you to answer how you think the village would respond to this. If we approve Naruto, then we're gonna have to explain to the very people that hate him, that he now has control over their everyday lives."

"If you had asked me this just a month ago, I would have told you that it would suicide for this village...However, I believe people are starting to think differently about Naruto. Whenever I went somewhere and mentioned Naruto, I would get looks of scowls and curses thrown my way...However, just the other day when I visited a few places, I mentioned Naruto at all of them, and while the scowls were present, a lot of people said that they were relieved he was around to save the village, and they might have misjudged them. Now, of course, many still hate and despise him, but already we see people can be persuaded, and should the truth come out about Naruto, then I believe we have nothing to worry about."

Asuma nodded as he sat back down, silence filling the room afterward as everyone could hear their hearts speed up, knowing that the vote for the future was approaching. Shikaku looked across everyone and spoke up "Does anybody have any more questions or statements?"

Choza nodded and stood up as he looked directly at Jiraiya "I wish to ask...Jiraiya-sama, will you stay in the village and guide Naruto if we approve of his appointment?"

"Of course...I've raised him like my own son, I wouldn't abandon him, especially now…" Choza nodded as he sat back down, seeming content with that answer.

One last time Shikaku looked around and asked if anybody had any questions or statements; and when silence followed, he merely nodded as he picked a wood hammer off the floor and hit the table with it. "As commander of the Jonin, I hereby declare that the vote to appoint Naruto Uzumaki as the Fifth Hokage of Konoha shall now commence. You will vote with your blood by writing the Kanji for yay or nay on the paper provided to you. In the event of a tie, then we shall have the one designated for tiebreakers, which is currently Anko Mitarashi, to cast her vote."

Everyone nodded, and after one more tap of the hammer, everyone closed their eyes and bit down on their finger before they began to write on their papers. Despite having no one right beside him, Shikaku also closed his eyes as he voted while Jiraiya walked over to the window and looked outside, not wanting to know the result before everyone else.

After everyone had finished, they all kept their eyes closed as one by one; they slid their papers towards Shikaku, who picked them up and placed them in a pile until finally, all ten had voted. Once he knew that all the papers had been collected, he banged the hammer on the table as everyone opened their eyes, sweat could be seen on everyone's faces.

After another bang on the table, Shikaku began talking "I shall now tally all of the votes…"

Everyone kept quiet as Shikaku picked up the stack of papers and went through every single one, as the pressure and potential history of the moment could be felt pressing down on their shoulders. Every time Shikaku placed a paper face down after reading over it, made their hearts drop, until finally he read the final one and placed it down, as everyone internally gulped and kept their eyes glued to him.

"All of the votes have been counted, and of course the ANBU agents have made sure that they were all authentic by watching the voting...Now! By a final vote of Seven to Three, the appointment of Naruto Uzumaki as the Fifth Hokage of Konoha...Has been approved." Shikaku spoke as he swung the hammer down onto the table as everyone felt a sense of relief but a sense of fear as well due to the unknown.

When Jiraiya heard the vote, he didn't turn around, but he did smile and even had a small tear run down his face as he kept looking outside as he muttered to himself "You did it kid…"

After making sure everyone had their eyes trained on him, Shikaku continued "The final step is, of course, confirming with the Hokage-Elect that they accept the position, but I have a feeling that won't be an issue. Until the clan's heads have been informed, no one is to say anything to Naruto-Sama. However, he is now the Hokage in waiting, and his life is the most important in the village! Even if it cost you your own life, you must make sure he is protected."

Everyone nodded as the air of relief and fear suddenly vanished, as they all returned to their shinobi forms. Even the unknown three who had voted against Naruto were now ready to guard him with their life.

"Kakashi...For the time being, continue to treat Naruto-Sama as nothing more than one of your students. But the same applies to you, he is the top priority, and even if it costs the life of your other students, you must protect him."

"...Of course." Kakashi nodded as he felt mixed emotions. He was feeling joy at seeing someone he cared about to achieve their dream but...He couldn't help but think that this might be too dangerous for Naruto.

"Now...Dragon!" An ANBU agent with a dragon looking mask suddenly appeared beside Shikaku "Your team is now in charge of guarding the Hokage-Elect every day and every hour. You must never lose sight of him, but he also must never notice you. Failure to do this will result in death."

"Understood!" After affirming his orders, the agent suddenly vanished as Shikaku let out a sigh as he took the hammer once more.

"Now, this session of the Jonin has ended." The hammer swung down one last time as the morning sun climbed higher and higher.

* * *

As the sun got higher and higher, illuminating more and more of the ground below, Naruto slowly woke up from his sleep as the light hit him right in the face. When his eyes fully opened up, he noticed he was still in the hospital room that was currently housing Sasuke, who was still in a coma on his bed while Sakura had fallen asleep right beside him.

After adjusting his eyes, Naruto let out a small yawn, yet his nerves were bothering him. He felt off today like something had happened, yet he couldn't put his finger on it. Not only that, but he felt like he was being watched as well, but no one was around, and he couldn't sense anybody's chakra that wasn't nearby.

Despite those concerns, he got up from his chair and walked over and looked at Sasuke as he let out a sigh, a part of him was kicking him for not being able to help Sasuke in time. Sure he had saved Sasuke's life, but he still didn't make it in time to stop his injuries from being as bad as they were.

He let out one more sigh as he walked back over to the window and looked outside as people were starting their day, while a lot of the village had been destroyed, there were still parts left untouched. So while the men spent days helping rebuild everything, the women would go to the relocated markets and help out their neighbors if they could.

As Naruto looked down at the scene below, he heard footsteps and soon a knock at the door before it opened up "Knock knock, is anyone awake?"

"Oh, Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto gave a smile and a nod as he pointed towards Sakura who was still passed out, though Kakashi merely glanced at her before looking back at Naruto. "I thought you had some important stuff to do today with the others?"

"It wasn't as important as I thought it was, they practically gave me the rest of the day off, so I decided to see how everyone was doing."

"I see, well then, while we're waiting for Sasuke to recover, how about we go and help out the villagers! I'm sure a lot of stuff needs to be done!" Naruto stretched and began to head out when Kakashi stepped in front of him.

"I think it would be better if we did something else instead."

"Huh? How come?"

"Well, even though Orochimaru was severely injured by the Third, it's possible he has another plan in place. Because of that, the other Jonin have decided that for the time being, it's better for all of the ninjas to be ready at all times. Meaning to lay low and wait."

"Ah really? Is that why you were sent here then? Because of that decision?"

"Yeah...Something like that…" The two of them heard a noise and looked over and saw Sakura stretch as she woke up from her sleep, her eyes were still, but when she saw Kakashi, she gave a smile to him.

"Kakashi-Sensei, I'm surprised you're here this morning."

"What? I can't come and check on my students?" Sakura gave a small laugh as Kakashi quickly turned his attention back to Naruto but immediately was interrupted by Sakura once again.

"Oh since you're here Kakashi-Sensei! I bet you know!"

"Hm? Know what?"

"Well, the delegates sent to the capital returned last night, right? I heard about it when I went out to buy some drinks last night to keep here. They were going to decide on who the Fifth Hokage would be right?" Kakashi narrowed his eye but only moved his gaze to make it seem like he was looking outside.

"Yes well...The Jonin council was going to vote this morning. However, I'm quite close to the one they chose apparently, so I wasn't allowed to vote."

"Quite close? Could it be Guy-Sensei then?" Kakashi shrugged as he kept his unknowing look.

"Who knows, might be...All I know is that they're Jonin level when it comes to being a Ninja, so they're qualified at least."

"Oh, I see...Well maybe it was you Kakashi-Sensei, that's why they didn't allow you to vote!"

"I doubt that Sakura, I mean if it were Kakashi-Sensei, they would have told him because no one would vote against him."

"Shut up Naruto; I wasn't talking to you!" Sakura grabbed her can from the night before and threw it right at Naruto...Only for Kakashi to quickly jump in front of him and catch it, surprising both of them. "K-Kakashi-Sensei?"

"...It's a hospital, if a drink were to hit something and get on the medicine or equipment, why I think Sasuke wouldn't be too thrilled about that."

"O-Oh right...Sorry…" Kakashi nodded as he crushed the can as he looked back at Naruto.

"And Naruto, please don't aggravate her."

"A-Ah yeah, sorry Kakashi-sensei…" Kakashi sighed as he threw the can in the trash and leaned against the wall, so both of his students were in sight.

"Anyway, I heard from the doctors that Sasuke should be waking up sometime between tonight and tomorrow, barring any unforeseen events, so we have that at least."

"Oh thank goodness, I'm so glad to hear that!" Sakura put her hands over her chest as she looked at Sasuke as Naruto also gave a small, sad smile, he was happy his friend was alright. The sadness came from the look Sakura gave Sasuke, making him continue to accept Sakura's true feelings slowly.

Despite the sudden bit of sadness, Naruto shook his head as he pumped his fists as he looked at Kakashi "Well that's good to hear, I've needed a sparring partner for a new jutsu I learned, and Sasuke is the perfect partner!"

"New Jutsu?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow as Naruto nodded "What is it?"

"Hehe, you'll see when I use it against Sasuke!" Naruto gave a big smile and a thumbs up, making Kakashi even more curious at what he was talking about. "Oh yeah! Once we find out who the new Hokage is, I wonder if he would allow me to have a sparring match with him!? He would be a fantastic training partner!"

"If you can convince the ANBU Black Ops, then he might agree to it…" Kakashi used his casual tone as always, though he did start to wonder how much the ANBU would let Naruto train once he assumed office, as all past Hokage's didn't need the level of training Naruto did.

"Ah, it's no problem! I tricked those guys so much when the Old Man was in office that I'm sure it will be just as easy!" Kakashi had to give a small laugh at that, if only because those guys were now in charge of guarding Naruto's life. "Although...I might know who the Fifth Hokage is Kakashi-Sensei!"

"Hm? Really?"

"Stupid! There's no way you can know just from what he told us!" Sakura yelled over at Naruto as she went to grab another drink, only to stop when she saw Kakashi glaring at her.

"Oh yes, I can! It's quite obvious if you think about it! This person is not only close to Kakashi-sensei, but has to be strong both physically and mentally! Out of everyone Kakashi-Sensei knows, the most obvious choice is Shikaku-Sensei!"

"Huh? Shikamaru's dad?"

"Yep! I mean think about it! He's incredibly smart, and a master strategist! Plus he has that shadow possession jutsu! He never has to worry about being attacked because as soon as the attacker gets in range, he can take control of them! Also, he and Kakashi-Sensei play mahjong with each other, so I can see why they wouldn't let you vote Kakashi-sensei!"

"Hm...While you have good points Naruto, I wonder if he would even accept the position, he doesn't seem like someone who would want the job to be honest."

"Ah come on sensei, who wouldn't want to be Hokage?"

"Hm? So if they asked you right now if you would accept the position or not?"

"Haha! Is that even a question? Of course I would accept it! It's my dream to become Hokage after all! Believe it!" Naruto gave another thumbs up as Kakashi nodded, another sense of relief washing over him.

"Oh please, Naruto has a better chance of becoming a school teacher than Hokage, so he never has to worry about being asked that question."

"What? Hey!?" Kakashi smirked as he watched his two students begin to argue back and forth, the irony not lost on him. The arguing though was interrupted when a knock came at the door before it opened.

"Figured I would find you here Kakashi."

"Hm? Oh, Asuma. Finished with the voting?" Asuma gave a confused expression before he saw Naruto and saw what Kakashi was going for.

"Ah yeah, we just finished." Asuma took a step forward, but before he could even get close to Kakashi, Naruto had jumped in front of him.

"I'm right, aren't I? Shikaku-sensei is the Fifth Hokage right?"

"Shikaku?" Asuma looked at Kakashi who merely shrugged, causing Asuma to sigh. "Ah no it's not him...I'm afraid I can't say who exactly it is until they're sworn in but...I will say that the council did approve them."

"Ha! Told you that you wouldn't know who it was Naruto!"

"Ah geez, thanks Sakura…" Naruto gave a low deadpanned reaction before he looked back at Asuma, who seemed to be strangely staring at him, though Naruto dismissed as it being early morning drowsiness. "Well can you give me a hint at least?"

"Heh, let's just say that you'll find out soon enough," Asuma smirked at Naruto and went to ruffle his hair before his better judgment took over as he looked back at Kakashi. "Although Kakashi, I have something to talk to you about, can you meet me in the hall?"

"...Yeah…" Kakashi walked past Naruto and seemed to glare at Sakura as he spoke: "Do be nice to each other while I'm gone, I'd rather not have the entire hospital chewing me out for your two behaviors." The two of them sheepishly nodded as Kakashi and Asuma left the room together.

"I wonder what's that about...Kakashi-Sensei seemed upset when he left."

"I would say it's something about the new Hokage...I hope they're as half as good as the Old Man…" Naruto had a sad look in his eye as he spoke, but he managed to shake it away.

"...Oh here…" Sakura gave a can to Naruto who gave her a confused look "You may be an idiot, but I know how close you and the Third were...So I'd rather not have you cry on me."

Naruto looked at the can before giving a small smile as he took it "Thanks Sakura…"

* * *

Once Kakashi and Asuma were outside, Kakashi immediately noticed how thick the air was as if a boulder had suddenly fallen on his shoulders "Genjutsu…?"

"Yeah...The ANBU have this entire hospital under Genjutsu right now...It'll stay that way as long as Naruto-Sama is here. The room he's in is also under a different Genjutsu, as nobody can hear or see anything in the room. They've also set traps everywhere, ready to go off on anybody they deem a threat. Also, a few Jonin have disguised themselves as patients and are patrolling the hospital."

As soon as Asuma said that, a patient walked by with his eyes kept on Naruto's room as he just gave a simple head nod to Asuma and Kakashi as he walked on by. "I see...I never noticed how tight security was with the Hokage around."

"My father always ordered a low-security presence whenever he went somewhere, so not to scare anybody...But with how everything is right now, they're watching over Naruto-Sama like a hawk."

"I see...Naruto-Sama huh?"

"Yeah, it's a bit weird to say. Unless it was official business, I was never formal with my dad so...This will take some getting used to."

"I think it's more along the lines that I could never imagine in a million years that Naruto would become Hokage at such a young age...I always thought he had the potential, but I thought it would be ten to twenty years from now…"

"Heh, well if everything goes well, then he'll still be here in that amount of time."

"I hope so...But anyway, what did you need to tell me?" Asuma looked around before he began as an extra air of caution.

"Well, I have mixed news...I just got back from the Hyuuga manor, and the news about Naruto-Sama...Was met with a small but positive reaction. Many of the members seemed unimpressed with the decision, but Hiashi said that he would respect the decision and pledged the clans full support to help and guide Naruto-Sama."

"Well, that went better than I was expecting...Although it doesn't sound like they were overly happy with the news."

"That's an understatement, but they at least said they would support him...On the bad side of things though, it seems that for whatever reason, Danzo is quite pleased with the news that Naruto was approved."

"Danzo? Why would he be happy with that? It's no secret that he despises Naruto; it makes no sense for him to pleased with our decision."

"Trust me, everybody is fully aware of that, so a few Jonin are keeping tabs on him...It doesn't help that he runs a section of the ANBU that is somehow even more secretive. As soon as Naruto-Sama is sworn in, I advise you to immediately tell him about Danzo, Kakashi."

"Right…"

"One more thing Kakashi...I've not talked with the others yet, but I know that all of the clans should know by this evening, and because of that, we're going to mark all the ones who don't intend to support Naruto-Sama and immediately advise him to install a puppet leader in all of them."

"Hm…" Kakashi didn't like the sound of that idea, as that could immediately lead directly to civil war, but…"I guess we have no choice; for now, the time to negotiate is in the future, not the present."

"Yeah…" The door suddenly opened as Kakashi, and Asuma both immediately looked towards it Naruto came out holding his wallet.

"Huh? When you guys said the hall, I didn't know you meant right outside of the door…" Kakashi placed his hands in his pockets as he walked close to Naruto.

"Well, it's still in the hall, isn't it? Anyway, where are you going?"

"I'm pretty hungry, so I'm going to go buy some ramen...I invited Sakura, but she said she's going to be with Sasuke until he wakes up, so I guess I'll be going alone." Naruto began to walk on, only to stop when Kakashi laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm pretty hungry myself, mind if I join you?"

"Huh? Really?"

"Sure, I haven't eaten anything today...What about you Asuma?"

"Yeah, Ramen sounds great right about now...Where exactly are you going to go eat at?"

"Where else can you find great ramen, except for Ichiraku Ramen itself!"

"Ichiraku Ramen huh?" Asuma cast a sideways glance over to a 'patient' walking by who nodded as they sped up their walk before vanishing around the corner.

"Yeah! Ah, this is sweet, with three people, I may be able to get a bowl free!" Kakashi and Asuma goth gave a small laugh as Naruto walked in front of them and sped walk his way out of the hospital, as the two of them kept close to him at all times.

* * *

As the trio walked throughout the town, Naruto noticed something was...Off...He couldn't place his finger on it, but something wasn't quite right. Maybe it was because ever since he entered the hallway, he felt heavy for some reason? Perhaps it was because it seemed like there were a lot more people in the crowd than usual in the morning? Or maybe it was because Kakashi and Asuma seemed more than happy to eat with him. Whatever it was, it felt off, but unless it was something dangerous, Naruto chose to keep an eye on it, but not worry about it yet.

Kakashi and Asuma, on the other hand, kept the surrounding area entirely in view as they walked, looking over every person who walked by and every window they passed by. Along the way, they saw that the 'patients' from the hospital were now conveniently passersby on the streets, while the general market that would be set up already wasn't for some reason.

As they kept walking closer and closer, the crowd thinned out more and more until only the passersby's mentioned earlier were seen, as they seemed to be enjoying the view. At Least that's what it looked like to Naruto.

When they finally arrived at Ichiraku, Kakashi and Asuma immediately noticed three Jonin standing on adjacent buildings observing the area, and when Naruto went under the flaps and into the stand, the passerby's suddenly stopped and began taking positions around the store.

When Naruto entered, he smelt the most fantastic smell ever as he gave a big smile as he sat down as Teuchi looked down at him and bellowed a laugh "You're here early this morning Naruto! Couldn't wait could ya!?"

"Haha! You know me Old man! I'm always ready for your ramen!" Teuchi gave another laugh as he began preparing Naruto's regular bowl as Naruto got ready to eat.

"Well, today's your lucky day Naruto! To celebrate the birthday of my late grandfather, the first customer gets all ramen free! So Naruto, everything is on the house for you!" As soon as Naruto heard those words, his mouth went agape as images of heaven filled his mind.

"Old man...A-Are you serious!?"

"Hehe, I never lie!" Naruto eyes sparkled as he quickly got ready for his first bowl of possibly hundreds. As Teuchi was preparing the bowl, Kakashi and Asuma both walked in as Teuchi gave a wave to them "Nice to see you two today, repairs been going well?"

"Yeah, everything is on schedule." Kakashi gave a casual reply as Asuma sat down beside Naruto as Teuchi walked over and gave Naruto his first bowl, who immediately began eating like crazy. "By the way, mind if we have a quick chat?"

"Sure, fine with me. I'll get your order when I come back Asuma!"

"Ah it's fine; take your time!" Teuchi nodded as Kakashi went around the counter and departed to the back with him until they were out of hearing range.

"If you've come to learn my recipe, sorry to say that it's a family trade Kakashi."

"...When did you find out about Naruto?"

"Hehe...I learned it when Guy suddenly busted in and told me to shut down for the day. When I questioned why, he was permitted to tell me since I'm a retired Jonin. Truth be told I thought he was joking at first, but as soon as I noticed the increased security presence and a sudden Genjutsu, his claims suddenly became feasible."

"...Your daughter doesn't know does she?"

"Nah, I sent her home and told her that due to some construction we couldn't open up shop for the day. Don't know if she believed me or not, but she finally left."

"I see...Well, you didn't have to make it free; I would have paid."

"Heh...It's fine. After everything that kids been through, I'm glad to see that he's finally going to be viewed as something more than a monster...It won't be an easy transition, but I'm sure he'll be just fine. Besides, he can view this as a congratulations present once he's finally in office."

"Well...I hope you're prepared to match his appetite, especially with making it free…"

"Hehe, trust me, I don't plan on opening for the day, so I'm set." Teuchi gave another laugh as he patted Kakashi on the back "I will say this though, the kid is welcome here anytime he wants, and I'll make sure he's a top priority every time."

"Heh, I swear you're going to regret that." They both shared a small laugh as Teuchi walked past Kakashi and back to the front

"Well, I'm sure he's already done. Be a bad look if I made the Hokage wait for his food, eh?"

"Heh, yeah…" Teuchi nodded as he walked back to the front as Kakashi stood there for another moment "I hope you're right...I hope they do view him as more than a monster…"

* * *

About an hour had passed, and during that time Kakashi and Asuma had only eaten one bowl, and even then it was just a little bit before they slipped it to Naruto, who was already on his fifteenth, as Teuchi kept his smile while he prepared several more bowls.

As time went on, Kakashi was starting to worry about Naruto's stomach as he kept eating. However, that was interrupted when the flaps opened, and the Jonin Aoba Yamashiro walked in as he looked at Kakashi "Kakashi, I need to talk to you."

Kakashi looked back before he nodded as he got up from his seat "I'll be back in a moment."

Asuma just nodded while Naruto raised one hand to wave, though he didn't look up from his bowl as Kakashi walked outside as he saw the security detail was still in place "We just got word back from the elders."

"The elders? What, did they say anything worth being worried about?"

"Not necessarily, although when I told them about Naruto-Sama, they didn't look particularly happy, but they pledged to support him. However they requested for you to meet with them, and after I informed them you were busy with the Hokage-Elect, they requested to meet with Jiraiya-sama personally."

"Hm? What for?"

"When I asked them, they said they had some important questions that needed to be asked. It's nothing to worry about I would think, but…"

"It can be something to worry about though...No matter what they ask, he's already been approved, and they can't change that. If they have any questions, they can ask the Hokage himself when he's inaugurated."

"Yes I agree, that's why I've chosen not to inform Jiraiya-sama of their request, as I feel like it would be inappropriate. But on the subject on the inauguration, those plans have been decided on, the private one anyway."

"I see…"

"Once all the clansmen have been informed, which is expected to be sometime tonight, then we will call Naruto-Sama to the Hokage manor and inform him of his appointment, which if everything goes well will be tomorrow morning. If he accepts, then he will immediately assume the role of Hokage, though the public won't be informed until the public inauguration, which is still being planned."

"Tomorrow morning huh? It won't be easy keeping it a secret, especially to Sakura and Sasuke. They'll notice if he suddenly isn't around them anymore, not to mention the others who are friends with him."

"That's been accounted for, and we are preparing a way to make it seem like Naruto-Sama is still going about his everyday life. Of course, wherever he goes will have to be heavily guarded, and the like. For the time being, you have been appointed as Naruto-Sama's personal bodyguard Kakashi. While the others will switch out their shifts, you are to remain by his side every minute until his inauguration tomorrow morning."

"I figured...Any other information?"

"Just one last thing...Sunagakure has sent diplomats over and has agreed to surrender for their involvement in the Chunin Exams attack fully. They'll be willing to assist us in rebuilding in any way possible and have even offered to release all Konoha prisoners they have taken over the years."

"Hm...The best thing to do would be to guard them until Naruto takes over and then have him agree to the surrender as his first act as Hokage." It would be a smart thing to do after all, as it would immediately make Naruto look like a powerful leader by having a village surrender as soon as he took over even if it wasn't directly because of him.

"Shikaku has already issued that exact order; currently they are being guarded by one of the ANBU teams at a local Inn."

"Alright...I'll get the full details from Shikaku later." Aoba nodded and was about to say something else when the flaps opened, causing both of them to turn towards it as Naruto and Asuma walked out immediately. "Finally done?"

"Ah yeah...Those twenty-three bowls hit the spot…" Kakashi chuckled as he gave a nod to Aoba who returned it before he vanished, leaving the original three together. "But really Kakashi-sensei, both times today that I left somewhere, you were right outside...usually people go farther away when they're talking."

"Well I know you Naruto, and whenever you're around Sakura or food, you couldn't care about anything else." Naruto got a small blush from embarrassment as Kakashi gave another small laugh "But anyway, where are you heading next?"

"Oh um...I was thinking about meeting up with Kiba for some training." Kakashi and Asuma both gave a glare before they looked at each other and nodded.

"While that sounds good and all Naruto, I think it would be better if we headed back to the Hospital for now."

"Huh? How come?"

"Well...I heard the Inuzuka clan is currently helping out with the construction effort, so I doubt any of them have time for training right now."

"Oh really? That's strange, Kiba even told me that he would be free to train this week. Well, I don't want to hang out in the hospital all day…" Kakashi started to think about what he could do when an idea suddenly hit him.

"Say Naruto...How about me and you train together?"

"Huh!? Really Kakashi-Sensei!?" Naruto eyes sparkled as Kakashi gave a nod, as Asuma let out a small sigh of relief due to his quick thinking.

"Yep, and I'll tell you what, I'll even teach you a new jutsu."

"Really!?" Naruto got even more excited as he was practically bouncing up and down, about to fall right out of his shoes as Kakashi gave another nod.

"Yeah, but only on one condition…" Naruto stopped his bouncing as he gave Kakashi a confused look. "Only if you can finally pass this test."

Kakashi reached inside his vest and pulled out…"What!? The bells again…?"

Sure enough, Kakashi pulled out the two bells from his vest that he used when Team Seven trained for the first time together. "If you can snag both bells before sundown, then I'll teach you something new, alright?"

Naruto really didn't want to go through the trouble that was the bells again, but the thought of learning a new jutsu was too much to deny "Alright, I'll do it! And I won't hold back Kakashi-Sensei!"

"Heh, good to hear…" Naruto pumped his fists together while Asuma laid a hand on Kakashi's shoulder.

"Well while you do that, I have a few things to take care of, I'll see you in the morning Kakashi."

"Alright then, take care." Asuma nodded before he vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Kakashi and Naruto alone in front of the ramen stand. "Well then, shall we head to the usual training ground?"

"Hehe, yeah! I'm pumped! Let's go sensei!"

* * *

As time marched on and the only noise present was the slow breathing from the one on the bed, Sakura sat quietly as she looked down at her kunai, thoughts racing through her head about what she could have maybe done differently to where Sasuke wouldn't be in the position he was in.

Initially, she blamed Naruto for not being able to help and support Sasuke fast enough, but as her anger subsided and reason began to sit in, she realized that it wasn't just one person's fault, it was no one's fault really. The only one to blame was Orochimaru and his allies, nobody from the village was at fault for what transpired, especially since everyone one of them risked their lives to protect everyone.

As she sat still and continued to ponder, a knock was heard on the door, and soon it opened as someone walked in "Huh? Shikamaru"

The one who had walked in was Shikamaru Nara, son of Shikaku Nara, and Konoha's resident lazy student. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as he looked over the room before he looked at Sakura "Is Naruto not here?"

"Huh? Oh no, why?"

"Ugh, what a drag...Well, Kiba, Choji, and Shino wanted to train, and we figured Naruto would join us."

"Training? That doesn't sound like you Shikamaru."

"It wasn't my idea; it was Kiba's...But with how everything is, I figured it's better than moving wood planks or concrete." Shikamaru sighed as he placed his hands in his pockets "Well, you know where he is?"

"Hm...Oh yeah! He said he was going to Ichiraku Ramen. I guess Kakashi-Sensei went with him because I've not seen him since then." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as he turned and leaned against the wall.

"Well, he's going to be disappointed…"

"Huh? How come?"

"Because the four of us were going there when all of a sudden one of the Jonin appeared and told us that the entire area had been closed off because of some of the construction they had to do. That was a pain, especially since we had been walking for so long."

"Closed off? But I walked past there last night and had no problems."

"Yeah I find it weird myself, but I'm guessing something must have happened all of a sudden." Sakura nodded as silence overtook the two of them. Feeling a bit awkward by the sudden silence, Sakura began to wonder if Shikamaru would know.

"Hey Shikamaru, I was wondering something."

"Hm? What's up?"

"Do you know who the Fifth Hokage is?"

"Huh? Why would I know that?"

"Well, your dad is on the council that votes right? I heard from Kakashi-sensei that they were going to vote sometime this morning, and Asuma-Sensei later confirmed that whoever it was, was approved."

"Ah yeah, dad told me that they voted earlier...I have no idea who it is though, but I'm guessing it's one of the top Jonin."

"Yeah, I thought that as well! They actually asked Kakashi-Sensei not to vote because he was too close to whoever they were voting on, which makes me think it might be Guy-Sensei!"

"Hm...I don't think he would accept it, to be honest, and if he did, I don't think we would hear the end of it from Lee…"

"Hm true, I doubt Guy-Sensei would keep it hidden from Lee either...Oh! Maybe that's why they closed down that street for the day! Because whoever is the next Hokage was somewhere on it!"

"Huh?... Well, It did seem a bit off I guess, so that's possible...But there's not anything on that street for someone who is about to become Hokage to go to."

"Maybe they went to Ichiraku?"

"I doubt someone as powerful as the Hokage would want to eat Ramen for breakfast." Sakura shrugged as if to say maybe, maybe not. "Well anyway...If you see Naruto, go ahead and tell him to meet us at my house."

"Alright, will do." Shikamaru nodded as he left the room, leaving Sakura by herself as she looked back down at her kunai. "The Fifth Hokage huh...I hope whoever it is...I hope they can make the ones who did this pay."

* * *

As the sun got closer and closer to sundown, Naruto was heavily breathing as his back laid against one of the tree stumps in the training field. Though he had managed to actually grab one of the bells halfway through, his energy had mostly left him after an entire day of running around trying to catch Kakashi, and he was beat.

As Naruto stood there, Kakashi appeared in front of him, the bell still in his hand "Well it's sundown...I'll give you credit Naruto, you managed to get one today. Not both of them though, so the new jutsu will have to wait."

"D-Damn it...But I got closer, huh Kakashi-sensei? I-I'll get it one of these days. Both bells…" Naruto was breathing heavily as his body ached, though it was a good ache, an ache that signified that he had accomplished something today.

Kakashi nodded as he placed the bell in his vest pocket "Indeed, you are getting better, though you still have much work to do...Perhaps when you get some free time again, we can practice once again."

"T-Then...How about...Tomorrow?" Naruto gave a competitive smile to Kakashi who kept his eye trained on Naruto.

"Well...tomorrow is going to be a busy day, a lot of things are planned. But maybe if we get some free time, we can do some exercises."

"A-Awesome." Despite wanting to collapse right there, Naruto pushed himself off the stump and slowly walked over to Kakashi "R-Remember when I get that second... the second bell you...you promised a new...j-jutsu…"

Naruto suddenly started to fall backward, only for Kakashi to quickly catch him and slowly lower him to the ground as Naruto was passed out asleep.

Kakashi kept his eyes trained on him until he heard footsteps behind him "Didn't know you had that much energy Kakashi."

"Well when you're dealing with kids, you kinda have to." Kakashi looked over as Asuma had re-emerged from the bushes.

"He's pretty good for his age; I saw you struggle at several points."

"Yeah...If I didn't try, then he would have easily gotten both bells...It's incredible how good he can be when he's not holding back. Though he has a long way to go, I believe with a few years of training; he'll be the best in the village.

"Considering he's now Hokage, I pray so...Speaking of which, all of the clans heads now know."

"Any problems?"

"Not that I heard...Though some like the Hyuuga clan only promised to respect the decision and give support when necessary, others such as the Inuzuka clan fully recognized the decision and promised to support the new Hokage every minute of every day."

"Well...That went better than I was expecting, though it will be good to keep an eye on all of them."

"Agreed."

"But since they all know, I guess that means…" Asuma nodded as he looked down at Naruto.

"Yeah...Tomorrow morning, Naruto Uzumaki will officially assume the duty of Hokage." A sharp wind blew throughout the training field as the two shinobi kept their looks on Naruto.

"Well then, tomorrow officially begins a new chapter in history...I pray that Naruto cares about his dream as much as he says he does...Because as of tomorrow morning, our lives are his to command."


	3. The Fifth Hokage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the Early morning of Konoha, the village is just waking up as the ceremony for the Fifth Hokage Begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The wonders of having a vacation is that I have more time to write, and be able to get the chapters out faster! So while this pace may not keep up, I hope everyone is enjoying it for now!
> 
> So welcome everyone to chapter 3, hope you all have been enjoying so far! This chapter covers the private ceremony for Naruto along with some extra stuff, I hope everyone enjoys! For people wondering, this story is going to be slow to start since it is a political story at the very core, but I hope for some action stuff in just a few chapters, but I hope everyone is enjoying the political developments!
> 
> I was researching around and I couldn't find anything that said Konoha had a anthem or like a national song, so out of not wanting to change some things, just imagine the anthem talked about as an old French War song(With the drums and whistles)
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys and as always feel free to comment and tell me what you like and what you don't like, always means alot!

The night rolled on throughout the village, many of its inhabitants were fast asleep, while the night owls were either doing some sort of job or roaming the streets about to pass out from drinking.

However, the few who weren't shinobi noticed increased movement around the Hokage tower, as every minute jonin were entering and leaving the place, even some Chunin were seen roaming around the tower, and for any drunks who got close, they were immediately escorted home by someone.

While many citizens knew that something was taken place, they didn't know what exactly. Some thought a new Hokage had been decided on and they were preparing for him, others felt that perhaps the council hadn't voted yet and were setting up to do so.

Not like they would ever know the answer, the ordinary citizen knew nothing of the governmental affairs, and that was for the best especially since many citizens might be upset if they knew exactly who was about to assume the office of Hokage.

As the night continued, one of the legendary Sannin made his way down the street, his large scroll on his back as a sense of pride resonated throughout his body. As he got closer to the tower, many of the shinobi quickly eyed him before returning to their duty, the members of the Hyuga clan who had been swiftly summoned confirming his chakra to make sure he was the real deal.

As he walked up to the door, the one standing guard at it gave a smile to the Sannin as he got closer "Jiraiya-sama, it's nice to see you again."

"Iruka, it's been a while! Still teaching at the academy?"

"It's where my passion lies, so of course haha. I'm guessing you're here to attend the private ceremony for the Fifth?"

"Yeah I am, have you been told yet who it is?" Iruka sighed as he shook his head.

"No, only the Jonin know...The Chunin have been called here for extra security, but we've not been told anything regarding the event. We don't even know who the Fifth is. All we've been told is that he's expected to arrive sometime early in the morning and that the entire area has been encased in some sort of Genjutsu to hide who they are."

"I see, I see. Well, you may be allowed to watch the ceremony. I'm sure you'll be surprised at who it is."

"Huh? You know who it is Jiraiya-Sama?"

"Yeah I attended the voting, they requested me there to answer some questions about the Hokage-Elect since he still doesn't know he's been chosen."

"I see...While it's true that whoever it is, won't be told until right beforehand, I am curious as to why they asked you to attend. The only person I can think of them needing you to answer questions would be Tsunade-Sama, another one of the legendary sannin, but everyone keeps referring to the Hokage-Elect as a 'he' so…"

"Yeah it's not her, don't think being Hokage would suit her to be honest, she's a little too brash if you ask me."

"I see...They didn't break protocol and had you answer questions about yourself did they?" Jiraiya gave another laugh as he shook his head.

"No no, I don't think I could ever do this job, not only is their way to much paperwork involved, but I wouldn't have enough time to do my research." Jiraiya got a goofy grin on his face as Iruka raised an eyebrow, what was he talking about?

"I...See...Well, I'm sorry to say that I don't know who you might be close enough to, to answer questions about them."

"Heh, it's fine, I've been training him in secret for years now. Somehow the Daimyo found out though, and that became one of the reasons he was chosen."

"Well if they're your personal apprentice Jiraiya-sama, then I think they're perfect for the job." Jiraiya got a smirk on his face as he nodded as he began to walk past Iruka and into the building.

"Well, I think I'll go take my seat before the clan's heads arrive, be sure to congratulate the Hokage-Elect when you see him!"

"Huh? But I don't know who it is."

"Hehe, trust me...When you see him, you'll immediately know…" Iruka gave another confused look as Jiraiya walked inside of the tower as Shinobi continued to go here and froe.

* * *

The night continued peacefully, and that included one Naruto Uzumaki, who quietly slept on his bed in his apartment, the exhaustion from yesterday entirely taking over his body.

Hours went by, and soon the night slowly started turning light as the sun began to creep up in the distance, it's rays shining directly into Naruto's face, causing him to scrunch as he tossed and turned until his eyes slowly started to open up.

As he awoke from his slumber, he pushed himself up and stretched as he yawned as he looked down at his clothes "Hm…? Oh yeah, I passed out when I was training with Kakashi-Sensei yesterday…"

Naruto gave another yawn and was about to fall back to sleep when a voice interrupted him "Sleep well?"

Hearing the voice, Naruto suddenly went wide-eyed as he pushed himself up and looked around until he saw Kakashi leaning against his wall, reading his book that he kept with him at all times "K-Kakashi-Sensei? What are you doing here this early?"

"Well I brought you home last night, so I decided to stay with you until you woke up." Naruto gave him a confused look as he scratched the back of his head.

"That's kinda weird sensei, why did you-" Naruto was cut off as out of the corner of his eye, he saw both Asuma and Kurenai leaning against the wall "Huh? Asuma and Kurenai-Sensei? Why are you two here as well?"

Neither of them spoke as they stayed in place and soon Naruto saw that further down the wall were Choza and several more Jonin.

"H-Huh? Why are all you guys here? Did something happen?" Nobody said anything, though Kakashi did close his book and stuff his hands into his pockets as he turned towards the door as standing in front of it was Shikaku "S-Shikaku-sensei?"

After Naruto noticed him, Shikaku gave a nod as he walked forward as all of the Jonin did as well as they surrounded Naruto's bed, making him sweat "Naruto Uzumaki…"

Shikaku spoke as Naruto leaned against the wall, not knowing what was going on "Y-Yeah?"

"You know who all of us all of course, but as per tradition, I must introduce ourselves as the Jonin council." They all did an introductory bow, causing Naruto to raise an eye as he kept looking over all of them, trying to see if this might be a trap or prank by someone.

"R-Right, why are you all here? I-I didn't do anything did I?"

"No...Well, you've done nothing to warrant being worried if that's what you're wondering about." Shikaku gave a head nod to Kakashi who returned it as he stepped up towards Naruto.

"Naruto, yesterday, did anything feel off to you?"

"Yesterday?...Well...Now that you mention it…" Naruto crossed his arms as he tried to remember, recalling that something did feel off early on. "Yeah...It felt like something was heavy on my shoulders, and it also felt like I was being watched."

"Right, and that was because you were being watched. The ANBU Black Ops were following you all day yesterday and all night, and are still watching over you. The heavy thing you felt was a genjutsu they had deployed to protect you."

"P-Protect me? Is someone after my life? Someone sent by Orochimaru perhaps?" Kakashi shrugged as he looked outside.

"It's possible that there is someone out there planning to take your life, but we have nothing that can confirm that...However, we can't deny that either, so you're going to be protected every minute of every day from now on."

"H-Huh? How come?" Kakashi looked over at Shikaku who nodded as he pulled out a scroll and opened it.

"Naruto...You remember how the Fifth Hokage has yet to be decided on, correct?"

"Huh? Yeah, why…?"

"Well...That's the reason you're being guarded the way you are right now." Naruto raised an eyebrow as he gave a questioning look.

"What do you mean? Do I know who it is, and you need me to answer some questions or whatever? Is that why I'm being protected?" Shikaku shook his head as he looked down at the scroll.

"Four days ago, the Fire Daimyo appointed the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, and yesterday morning, the Jonin council got together to vote on the nomination...And by a vote of seven to three…" Shikaku closed the scroll as he kept his eyes on Naruto who started to go wide-eyed "The council has approved you, Naruto Uzumaki, as the fifth Hokage of Konoha."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Naruto eyes went wide as his voice caught in his throat. He tried to speak but couldn't; every word he decided to form wouldn't come out. He just kept staring at Shikaku, who stared right back. Naruto looked over at Kakashi as some words finally started to form "K-Kakashi-Sensei...T-This is a joke...R-Right…?"

Kakashi didn't say anything for a moment as he closed his eye and shook his head "No...He's telling the truth Naruto…"

Naruto just stared at Kakashi as a mix of emotions began to swirl inside of his stomach, making him almost sick as he just looked across all the faces of everyone who was present. They were all serious, stone-faced really, showing no emotion as they all stared at Naruto.

Naruto kept looking across all of their faces until his gaze met Shikaku's again who spoke once more "Of course, should you refuse...Then this meeting will never be spoken of again, and a hunt for a new Hokage shall continue. The choice is yours, Naruto Uzumaki…"

Naruto just took the words in as all kinds of thoughts entered his mind…

Ever since he was a kid, his dream was always to become Hokage...Nothing ever came before that. Every day of his training, Jiraiya told him that he had to get stronger to become Hokage, he had to keep pushing and pushing and never give up.

And here it was...The offer...The council voted, and they wanted him as their leader, no...As the leader of the village. Everyone would depend on him; everyone would need him, everyone...Might acknowledge him.

Naruto cast a downwards shadow as a tear ran down his cheek as he quickly wiped it off, everyone patiently waiting for his answer, until Naruto finally looked Shikaku in the eyes as determination swirled throughout his body.

"Shikaku-Sensei...I'll do it...I'll become Hokage!" As soon as the words left his mouth, Shikaku nodded as everyone placed their fists on their chests.

"Very well then, we pledge to serve you…" Everyone got onto their knee and in unison said "Hokage-Sama!"

Naruto was taken aback from the scene, yet a sense of pride welled up in him as he couldn't help but smile as another tear ran down his face, causing him to wipe it away. Naruto smiled as he looked across everyone, but as everyone stayed kneeled he got a bit embarrassed as he spoke "A-Ah um...You guys can stand back up."

Everyone immediately did so as smiles were on each of their faces, slightly amused by Naruto's embarrassment.

However, that amusement vanished as Shikaku spoke back up "Now then...We have a lot of things to explain to you Hokage-Sama, I'll explain most of them on the way though."

"Huh? On the way to where?"

"To your private inauguration, of course, you still have to follow tradition after all."

"A-Ah ok um...Are we walking?" Everyone gave a small laugh as Naruto jumped off his bed and followed Shikaku out with everyone following closely behind. However as soon as he was on the railing, he looked down and saw…"A chariot? I didn't even know we had those here."

"They're not commonly used due to the materials needed to make one, but we always kept one around for use by the Hokage. Sarutobi-Sama never wished to use it as he enjoyed walking, so it's not common knowledge that we have one."

"I-I see...W-Wait does that mean?" Shikaku nodded as he gave a smile back to Naruto.

"It's pretty slow compared to how you usually travel; I hope you don't mind."

"A-Ah no it's fine, just different is all." Shikaku nodded as they all walked down the steps as Naruto noticed the heavy feeling again, most likely because of some genjutsu, while also noticing several Jonin were around his apartment.

"Kakashi and I will ride with you while the others will walk beside it...Unless you have different plans?"

"A-Ah no that's fine…" Shikaku once again nodded as he opened the door to the chariot and allowed Naruto to get inside first before him and Kakashi followed suit. Once the door was shut, the driver allowed the other jonin to get in place before he motioned for the horses draped with Konoha's symbol to begin their trot to the tower.

* * *

Once Naruto settled into the chariot, the highly comfortable seats certainly helped with that, Shikaku, who had sat in front of Naruto along with Kakashi, began speaking.

"Hokage-Sama, currently we are traveling to Hokage Tower for your private inauguration ceremony, which will only be attended by all of the villages Jonin, the head of all the clans, and a special guest. The general public will not be made aware of your appointment as Hokage until the public ceremony, which we will immediately begin preparing for and hope that it will only take a couple of weeks until then. That said, however, we humbly ask that you continue to live your everyday life while still performing your duties as Hokage...Of course, you have every right not to."

Naruto nodded as Shikaku took out another scroll and opened it up and began reading notes off of it.

"Now...As you know, being Hokage means you are the absolute ruler of Konoha, your word is law and nobody is above your rule. If you feel like someone deserves a promotion, they will get a promotion, if you wish to change the symbol, the symbol will be changed, if you wish to ban trading, it will be banned, if you wish to change the dress code, it will be changed, and if you wish for someone to die...They will die." Naruto gulped as he nodded his head as Shikaku undid more of the scroll "You will have a constant security detail escorting you, though you can of course keep it minimal and the ANBU will never make their presence known unless you call on them. The Head of the clans are no different than anyone else, they are not above you, and should you feel that one is acting out of line, a team of jonin will be sent to deal with them."

Naruto felt more sweat fall down his face as he nodded, realizing how terrible it could be if the wrong person became Hokage.

"Finally, you will have many things to make decisions on, though of course, you can give the duty to someone else if you wish. You will also never be removed from power unless it's because of death or resignation, and should it be by resignation, you shall continue to live your life in luxury and be well protected."

Shikaku folded the scroll back up afterward as he placed it back into his vest as Naruto processed all of the information given to him.

"Any questions?"

"Just one...Will I be allowed out of the village?"

"While we strongly discourage it, we can't stop you...As I mentioned, you are the ruler of this village, and no one can stop you from doing anything you want. The law doesn't apply to you; there are no rules." Naruto gulped once again as he sat back in his seat as he looked outside and saw the sun shining on all the buildings as the carriage slowly moved past them all.

Naruto kept watching the buildings slowly go by before he looked at Kakashi "Kakashi-Sensei, I guess this means we won't be able to train anymore, huh?"

"Well, there isn't any rule against it...Although that jutsu I was telling you about? You can order me just to teach it to you if you want."

"A-Ah no...I want to earn it; I may have achieved my dream but...I can't stop now! I'm going to get a new dream, and it will be even bigger and better!" Naruto gripped his seat as determination filled his eyes making Kakashi smile.

The chariot continued as the three inside went quiet, questions filling all of their minds as the sun got higher and higher, as all the jonin walking alongside the chariot kept watch over everything.

* * *

As the Chariot approached the tower, many of the Chunin who were assigned to guard immediately tensed up a little as they saw the chariot pull in. They didn't know who it was, all they knew was that the Hokage was in that chariot and they knew to show proper respect.

Iruka was one of the chunin as a part of him tightened up as the chariot got closer and closer to the tower until it finally came to a stop, just a few feet away from him. The doors opened as sweat rolled down his face.

Shikaku and Kakashi both exited the chariot first, and each of them took a side right beside the door to the inside of the chariot as all of the Chunin and even the Jonin watched the chariot, awaiting their next leader.

Iruke kept his eyes trained on the chariot, and soon it shook as a hooded figure descended the steps.

Indeed, to prevent the news from spreading, the next Hokage had been cloaked in a black cloak and had their face covered with an old ANBU mask.

The masked Hokage looked around as none of the Jonin with the chariot moved, their eyes still watching every corner around. However, as soon as the Hokage began walking towards the tower, they all started walking in unison, surrounding the Hokage like a barrier to prevent anyone from getting close and seeing him.

As they got closer to him, Iruka straightened up and placed his fist over his heart to salute the Hokage as the Jonin all lined up beside the door like an alleyway as the Masked Hokage walked in between them and entered into the tower, making Iruka sweatdrop when they walked by him.

Iruka did notice that the new Hokage seemed to be short, but he brushed it aside as being a genjutsu used to fool everyone even more. Once the Hokage was through the door, all of the Jonin with him lined up and entered into the tower, with the door closing right behind them as Iruka heard the door lock, as his heart was practically beating out of his chest from nervousness.

After a few moments, he realized that he had kept a breath in, and let it out as soon as he noticed while sweat poured down his face, his heart still beating uncontrollably. The only thoughts entering into his mind were that he had to get serious now, as his new leader was inside of the building he was guarding and he had to give his life to protect him.

* * *

Once he was inside of the tower, Naruto stopped walking as Shikaku went to the wall and hit a hidden panel as the floor started to move and revealed a staircase heading down. All of the jonin headed down while Kakashi and Shikaku got on each side of Naruto as Shikaku spoke: "We're going to take a left at the bottom and enter into the door, inside is the dressing room where we'll get you into your robes."

Naruto just nodded, having been told not to speak until they were in the hidden passage as they began the walk down the steps, Shikaku and Kakashi staying with him stride for stride until they reached the bottom as the floor closed back up as the trio took a left and finally entered into the dressing room.

Once inside, Naruto let out a sigh as he took off his mask and black cloak and placed it on a chair inside, while Shikaku and Kakashi both waited for him. "Man, walking past Iruka-Sensei and not saying anything to him wasn't easy…"

Shikaku gave a smile as he walked over and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder "Well in just a couple of weeks you'll be able to talk to him all you want about your new position. Now I have to head onto the ceremony room and give the opening remarks. During that time, Kakashi will help you get into your robes. Near the end of my speech, one of the jonin will come and tell you to come on, and you will then proceed to the door on the right of the staircase and wait until I introduce you. Afterward, you will walk down the aisle and to the front where I will deem you the fifth Hokage and place the hat on you. Any questions?"

"Uh...Do I have to say anything?"

"Only if you want to, otherwise I'll give the ending remarks with you right beside me and then we'll head on up to the office and get started." Naruto nodded as Shikaku gave a smile before he walked to the door and pointed at Kakashi. "Well Kakashi, see you at the ceremony."

"Yeah, see you there." Silence came over the two after the door was shut, as Kakashi and Naruto stood in the room together, neither one moving as time ticked on and on.

"So um...How long do you think it will be until I'm called for?"

"Well, Shikaku figured you might have some nerves, so he's going to try to stretch it out for about an hour...His remarks will consist of a brief history of all the Hokage's before you, and then he'll start explaining your life story to everyone, even if all the Jonin and Clans Leaders already know the truth."

"The truth…?" Naruto gave Kakashi a questioning look as he shrugged and leaned against the wall.

"Since you're now Hokage, you're going to find out sooner or later...However, someone specifically requested to tell you, so I'll keep quiet about it for now. Unless you want me to go ahead and tell you Naruto."

"Ah no, if someone wants to tell me, I'm sure it's for a reason that it's them." Naruto went quiet again as he looked around the dressing room, it wasn't grand or anything, consisting of a few chairs, a large mirror, and makeup set on the front table should he choose to wear any.

However what caught Naruto's eye was the robes hanging right beside the mirror, Naruto gulped as he felt his heart trying to beat right out of his chest as he walked towards them. Once he was just a few feet from them, he reached out and touched them, the pure silk easily being felt. "They were specifically made for you...Had the best designers in the village work on that for hours to make sure it was perfect."

Naruto looked back at Kakashi and nodded as he kept running his hand over the robes. The robes were exquisite, being white that reached down to his feet with a red keffiyeh that covered the chest and back with the symbol of Konoha on both sides and the Kanji for Hokage under it.

Naruto kept staring at them until he finally spoke after seemingly becoming lost in their sight "T-This is real...I-I'm Hokage…"

"Yeah...You finally achieved your dream Naruto." Naruto kept looking at the robes before his hand dropped to the side as he looked back at Kakashi with a lost look.

"Am I ready though…? I'm sure there were more qualified candidates right?"

"In terms of pure skill, most certainly. But you weren't chosen just based off of skill. You were chosen for many reasons. One is your personality, always looking on the positive side. Another is your knowledge, despite your grades, your smarter than you let on. You still need training, but you have the potential to become one of the strongest in the village. You also fully believe in the people of this village and the village itself, and that in itself is a big reason you were chosen."

"I see, so in a way, it's because of what I can become, not because of who I am right now?"

"I didn't say-"

"No it's fine, I know that was also one of the reasons...Which is fine, because that shows how much they believe in me." Naruto gripped his hand as he looked at Kakashi with another look of determination "I swear Kakashi-sensei, I'll be the best Hokage you've ever met, believe it!"

"Heh, I hope so...My life is yours to command, after all, Hokage-Sama." Naruto went red from embarrassment as he quickly swung his hands.

"A-Ah um...Can you just call me Naruto, Kakashi-Sensei? It feels weird if you call me Hokage…" Kakashi let out a small laugh as he walked over to Naruto and nodded.

"Sure...Though some of the others might find it weird if they hear the Hokage calling me sensei."

"Then I'll only do it when we're alone or with Sakura and Sasuke!" Kakashi nodded as he looked over at the robes and motioned at them.

"Ready to put them on?"

"Oh yeah...I guess I am…" Kakashi walked over towards them as he instructed Naruto to undress down to his shirt and briefs. After taking off his orange sweatshirt, Naruto threw it onto one of the chairs as he undid the shorts he had on and also threw them to the chair, leaving him in just his white shirt and underwear.

"Alright, first...The Robe…" Naruto nodded as he closed his eyes with anticipation as Kakashi took the outfit off of the wall and placed the keffiyeh on the front table. He raised the robes as he draped it over Naruto who stood perfectly still until it was on and his head came out the top. "Go ahead and put your arms through."

Naruto nodded as he moved his arms around until he found the sleeves and placed them through until both were out. Once that was settled, Kakashi straightened out the robe some before picking the keffiyeh off of the table and putting it over Naruto's head, as he proceeded to straighten it out and make sure it was even.

After making sure the robe was perfectly on, Kakashi patted Naruto on the shoulder as he opened his eyes "Take a look in the mirror."

Naruto turned towards the mirror and was amazed to see himself in the actual Hokage Robes, something he had dreamed about since he was a kid. He then finally looked down at the robes as he moved around in them "Wow, they do fit perfectly."

"Told you they would...Now, go ahead and take off your headband, whenever you're wearing your robes, it's best to either hide it or not wear it at all. Since we have nothing to hide it with right now, go ahead and give it to me." Naruto nodded as he looked in the mirror and undid his headband before he gave it to Kakashi who folded it up and placed it on the table. "Now, the final piece…"

Naruto gave him a questioning look as Kakashi walked forward and stuck his hand into Naruto's robe pocket as he pulled out two white gloves. He motioned for Naruto's hands, which Naruto complied as Kakashi placed the gloves onto his hands, making sure they were firmly on each side as now his entire body but his face was covered in his new outfit.

"Comfortable?"

"Ah yeah very...This is really comfortable actually."

"Glad to hear, never been good at dressing people, so I'm glad I did a decent job here." Naruto gave a small laugh as he kept looking at the robes until he looked at Kakashi.

"Hey um...I was wondering something."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Would it be alright...If Iruka-Sensei came in here? I know Shikaku-Sensei said to wait until the public ceremony but…" Naruto sighed as Kakashi just smirked as he nodded.

"Considering he was one of the few people to look out for you as you grew up, I don't see any problem with it."

"Hehe, thanks sensei."

* * *

As the morning sun illuminated the area, Iruka continued to observe the many people who were looking at the tower from afar. Sure they wouldn't be able to see anything thanks to the Genjutsu placed on it, but a buzz was in the air around the village about the new Hokage after the entire area around the tower was closed off, causing many people to think that the new Hokage had been decided upon.

Of course not only had he been decided on, but he was about to be introduced to the village leaders, making Iruka highly vigilant as he watched every inch and corner, making sure nobody had somehow got around all the security.

However as he continued to watch, he jumped a little when he heard the door unlock as he immediately saluted, thinking the new Hokage was already done. However, when the door opened, Kakashi walked outside and closed the door behind him, making Iruka drop his salute. "Kakashi?"

"Iruka, I see everything is going well."

"Huh? Ah yeah, no problems that I can see so far...However, the fact you're out here means somethings wrong doesn't it?"

"Actually no, everything is going according to plan so far, just have a request by the Hokage." Iruka tilted his head in confusion as Kakashi spoke: "The Hokage wishes to meet with you Iruka."

"W-What?" Iruka was taken aback as Kakashi showed no signs of joking "W-Why?"

"Well...You two know each other, and I'm guessing he wants to talk to you before his life is forever changed."

"We know each other…?" Kakashi nodded as he opened the door and stepped back.

"Well...Since he called for you, you're technically his guest, so I'll lead you to where he is."

"B-But what about my post?"

"No worries, someone will cover it for you...After all, the Hokage overrides all previous orders you were given."

"Y-Yeah I know…" Iruka gulped as he walked inside of the tower as Kakashi followed before closing the door and locking it back.

Iruka felt his heart about to beat out of his chest as Kakashi lowered the stairs and led Iruka to the dressing room on the left, each step making him more and more nervous about who possibly was chosen as the fifth. Once the two of them reached the room, Kakashi made sure no one was following them as he opened it and allowed Iruka to head inside.

Once inside, Iruka noticed how nice and well kept the room was, not the most impressive but a nice dressing room. As Iruka scanned the room over, his eyes stopped when he locked eyes with the person standing in the middle of the room "Naruto?"

"Hey...Iruka-Sensei…" Iruka raised an eyebrow as he took a step forward.

"What are you doing here? Isn't this where the Ho-" Iruka's words caught in his mouth as he noticed what Naruto was wearing with the white robes...But he also noticed the symbol of the village and the Hokage kanji on his keffiyeh as he stopped in his tracks as his eyes moved back up to Naruto's face "Hokage...Naruto...You…"

Naruto gave an embarrassed smile as he scratched the back of his head "Y-Yeah...I'm...I'm the fifth Hokage Iruka-Sensei."

Iruka kept staring at Naruto as his mouth slowly went agape as he looked back at Kakashi "I-Is he telling the…"

"The truth? Yes, yes he is...Naruto...Or rather the Hokage-Sama is telling the truth." Iruka's eyes went wide as his mouth opened even more as he looked back at Naruto who was still smiling and rubbing the back of his head as he slowly walked over to him, each step making his heart beat faster and faster.

"Naruto...I-I can't believe it I-I mean...Hokage…" Iruka closed his mouth and gulped as he kept looking Naruto over "Naruto…"

Iruka felt a tear run down his face as he quickly wiped it off as he smiled at Naruto who returned the smile with a smug grin "I told you Iruka-Sensei, I told you I would become Hokage!"

"Yes...Yes, you did…" Iruka's smile grew even wider as he laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder "I-I'm sorry for doubting you a few times but, you proved me wrong like you have so many other times in the past."

Naruto nodded as he pumped his fists together as he spoke: "I hope I'll keep proving you wrong sensei, it's what I do best after all!"

"Heh...I can't deny that you always, always prove me wrong Naru-...Hokage-Sama." Iruka felt more tears run down his face as he saluted to Naruto and bowed on one knee towards him as Naruto was still taken aback from the gesture but gave a confident smile as he nodded.

"Hehe, I'm glad to hear sensei." Iruka wiped away more tears as he stood back up with a smile, a smile that a father might use when he was more than proud of his son "Although uh...Kind of like with Kakashi-sensei, can you still call me Naruto? It's weird hearing anything else from you."

"Heh, guess I can't refuse an order from the Hokage huh? Yeah, that's fine. Although I'm no longer above you, so from now on, be sure to call me Iruka."

"U-Uh sure thing Iruka-Sensei! I-I mean Iruka!" Iruka laughed as he patted Naruto on the shoulder once again.

"Well practice makes perfect I guess." The two of them shared a laugh before Iruka gave a confident look at Naruto "The people of this village might not accept you Naruto, they never have...But I think that can change, and I think it will change! You've proven me wrong time and time again, now it's time to prove them wrong, alright? This is the last order you'll ever going to hear from me, which is to make this village believe in you!"

Naruto got a stern look as he nodded before smiling "Of course! I'll do it...I'll not only make them believe in me, but I'll also make sure no kid ever has to go through what I went through, believe it...As the final task assigned by you, I'll gladly do it Iruka-Sensei!"

Iruka nodded as a knock was heard on the door before an older woman opened it "Hokage-Sama, it's almost time…"

Naruto nodded as he looked back at Iruka "Well...I guess it's time for my private ceremony. You want to come?"

"Thanks but...I have a more important job right now, which is protecting you! I'll make sure that as long as I live, nothing ever hurts you Naruto, that's my promise not as a teacher, but as a friend."

"Then I promise this; I'll make sure that I'll lead this village into the best age of its lifetime so the kids you teach won't have to worry about the stuff we worry about! That's a promise as both a friend and as the Hokage!"

"Heh, I'm glad to hear." Naruto nodded as Iruka and him shared a quick hug before he walked over to Kakashi and nodded as Naruto left the room with the older lady as Kakashi looked at Iruka.

"I'll give you credit; you believed in him when no one else did Iruka, all I can say is... Thank you." Iruka looked surprised for a moment before he smiled and nodded "Well...I'm his bodyguard until he says I'm not anymore, so I need to head on. Might want to hurry back to your shift before the other Chunin finds out."

"Hehe, right…" Kakashi left the room as Iruka stood in the middle of it as more tears ran down his face as he clenched his hand "Naruto...Never lose that spirit of yours."

* * *

Naruto followed the old lady down the hallway with Kakashi close behind as sweat rolled down his face, whether it was because of the moment or because how hot the hall was wasn't entirely known, though if one had to guess it was because of both.

As the footsteps echoed throughout the hallway, the door to the ceremony room came into view when they rounded a corner as the trio stopped right outside of it. The woman beckoned for Naruto to stand beside her, which when he did so, he was able to hear Shikaku on the other side of the door.

"I say this because we are at a defining moment in our history! We have concealed the truth, and we have made Hokage-Sama's life hell because of it, yet what has he done? He has continued to love the people of this village, and every day he trains so he can be strong enough to protect them! I don't know how many other people would be willing to do that if they went through the hell he's been through!"

Naruto gulped as he heard that phrase again, about hiding the truth...He still didn't know what the village had been hiding, yet it scared him a little. Yet he had long chosen not to hold a grudge against the village, of course, Jiraiya played a significant role in that decision.

Naruto felt a pat on his back from Kakashi before he had walked over to the door with the old woman, each of them grabbing one of the handles as they faced each other as Naruto's heart began to beat right out of his chest.

"I want to end my speech with this...Don't judge him because of lies that have been spread, or some of the childish things he did in the past. He risked his life to save this village during Orochimaru's attacks despite just going through a grueling match in the Chunin exams. I ask that everyone here will support him, and help this village grow. Now...I ask for everyone to stand and salute, as I introduce to you the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki!

Naruto immediately heard the sound of drums as Kakashi and the old woman nodded as they pushed the doors open, revealing a medium sized room with a giant flag on the back wall with the crest of the village. A grand stage in the middle with pews rounding out the sides, each one having the village symbol inscribed on it.

When the doors opened, several Jonin were positioned on the side with the flag of the village with drummers playing the Village's anthem. Naruto gulped as he began walking forward, each time he passed a pair of Jonin holding flags, they lowered them out of respect for him. As Naruto walked, he looked around saw all the dominant clan's heads facing him with their fists over their chest, none of them showing any emotion but respect towards him.

As Naruto walked he saw that the very front pew only had one person sitting on it, and was shocked to see Jiraiya, who was saluting like the rest, yet he had a smile on his face and when Naruto's eyes met his, Naruto swore he saw a tear on Jiraiya's face, though after one of the flags was lowered obstructing it for just a moment, it was gone when he passed by the flag.

The two looked at each other for just a moment before Naruto gave a smile and nod to him before he looked back towards the front where Shikaku and the other members of the Jonin council were standing as they saluted him. Naruto stopped right before the stairs as he let out one long sigh as he began walking up them before he stopped right in front of Shikaku, as the drummers played out the rest of the Anthem before finally finishing up as Shikaku lowered his fist and motioned Naruto to his stand on his right as he got back in front of the podium.

"Ladies and Gentleman, it is my high honor to officially complete Naruto-Sama's appointment as Hokage as I bestow upon him the sacred hat that has been passed down from the very first." One of the Jonin off to the side brought the hat over as it rested on a pillow as Shikaku picked it up and looked at Naruto, butterflies ravaging his stomach when he saw the hat. "Naruto Uzumaki...By appointment of the Fire Daimyo, and as approved by the Jonin council, you are hereby deemed the Fifth Hokage of Konoha!"

Shikaku took the hat and placed it on top of Naruto's head as everyone in the room immediately kneeled towards him as Shikaku spoke once more.

"From this day forth, we are yours to serve…" And just like in Naruto's room, the entire audience said in unison "Hokage-Sama!"

Naruto's breath caught in his throat as he looked across everyone in awe, the moment still not fulling hitting him until everyone stood back up still saluting as Shikaku motioned for the podium, as if to ask if Naruto wished to speak.

After thinking for a moment, Naruto nodded as Shikaku bowed and stepped back as Naruto got in front of the podium and looked across everyone, the weight on his shoulders growing heavier…"Uh...I didn't have a speech prepared beforehand, after all just two hours ago I was dreaming about Ramen, ehehe…"

Naruto gave a small laugh some of the clansmen shared the laugh though most just smiled at him as he continued. "But um...To say this is an honor would be an understatement, ever since I was a child, I have dreamt of becoming Hokage, and I always used that as motivation to keep moving forward. Of course, that wasn't the only reason I was able to move forward, people like Iruka, Kakashi and...Jiraiya was also a big reason."

Naruto looked over at Jiraiya as the two of them shared a smile "But I know that the real fight starts here. This village was just involved in one of the worst attacks we have ever seen, and many people lost their lives or at the very least lost loved ones. One of my teammates and friends, you all know him as Sasuke Uchiha, is currently still in a coma because of that attack. One of my first duties as Hokage is not only to help this village rebuild, but also to hunt down and kill Orochimaru, for not only that vile attack but also because he killed a great man in the Third Hokage."

Everyone in the room lost their smile as they nodded and had severe and attentive looks plastered onto their face, the hate for Orochimaru surfacing "Speaking of the Third...I'm not him, I understand that. I'll never be as great of a leader as he was, nor will I ever be as strong as he was. Yet I'll do my best to fill his shoes as I promise his memory will never be forgotten."

Everyone nodded as some of the Thirds family such as Asuma cast a downwards look as Naruto went to finish up "I ask that everyone here guides me, because if I try to do everything by myself, then it won't end well...This village is as powerful as it is, because we all work together, not because one man asserts his will. I'll be coming to everyone here for advice often, and I hope that you all are willing to give it to me."

Most of the audience nodded as many were impressed by Naruto's sudden maturity, something he had never displayed to them before "I want to end this by asking a simple question...I know that many people were more qualified than I am, or may ever be...I want to ask, and also want to state that their will be no repercussions for speaking if anyone here feels that I am not ready for the job."

Everyone looked at each other to see if anyone actually had any objections; it seemed there was none...Until…"I have something to say."

Everyone in the room immediately became tense as an old man came out from one of the pews and stood in the middle of the room, directly facing Naruto as the Jonin and clansmen all went on guard, yet Naruto took a deep breath and nodded. "I see; you may continue."

"Now I don't have any objections to you, Hokage-Sama, yet...I want to make sure you're going to do something the third never did."

"That would be…?"

"Compensation! The third ordered for my brother and his wife to be killed, leaving our clan without a true leader! We're already facing a crisis as our members are getting lower and lower every year!" Everyone in the room glared at the man as Naruto kept his poker face on.

"May I ask who you are and what clan you represent?"

"Hmph, my name is Unkai Kurama from the Kurama clan!" Shikaku went over to Naruto to tell him who they were but…

"The clan that specializes in Genjutsu, correct?" Shikaku was surprised Naruto knew who they were, yet he saw Jiraiya nodding in approval, making him realize who Naruto learned that from.

"As expected of the Hokage, then you know that the Third ordered for my brother and his wife to be killed in a house fire, correct?" Naruto kept looking over the man as he gave a sigh and swung his head.

"I'm afraid I don't know any details concerning that event."

"Hmph! Well it happened, I know that for a fact, and I believe my clan deserves compensation!"

"...Unkai, tell me something, are you the head of your clan?"

"Huh? No...I'm apart of the branch family…"

"I see, then are you the representative of your clan, or is the clan's leader here?" Unkai went silent for a moment as he looked back at the pew he was sitting on.

"No...I came as the escort for the clan leader."

"Then, I ask for the clan leader to come out and speak please." After a moment of silence, a young girl, not much older than Naruto, if not the same age, stepped out. Wearing a pink kimono and brown hair, she stopped beside her uncle as she looked at Naruto stone-faced "I'm assuming you're…"

"Yakumo Kurama, my father was the head of our clan until his death...I'm now the head of my clan with my uncle guiding me for now." Naruto nodded as he motioned for her to continue "I...I believe the Third Hokage ordered for my parents to be killed, just as my uncle said…"

"May I ask why you believe this?"

"I...Overheard the Third speaking, and he said that if I became too much of a threat, then he would order me to be killed. This is because of my powers thanks to my bloodline."

"Yes, I've learned that the most powerful members of your clan have a Kekkei Genkai so strong that it can make illusion a reality."

"That's correct…" Naruto nodded as he noticed Kurenai with a semi-guilty look on her face, making him interested in the story behind it.

"Well, as I have told your uncle, I don't know the full events of what happened with your parents. But I want to state that I knew the Third very well, he was one of my mentors growing up, and because of that I can't see him doing something as heinous as that."

"But-"

"However!" Naruto spoke on top of her as he gave a stern look "I also understand that tough decisions have to be made sometimes and that nobody is perfect. We sometimes do things for the greater good, even if it means making sacrifices, so I can't say it didn't happen. So because of that, I want to apologize on behalf of the third and myself formally."

Naruto did a small bow towards the two of them, as everyone was taken aback by the action, especially Yakumo.

"I will review what happened that night, and then I'll talk to you about any compensation that I believe is worthy. I know that nothing will ever bring your parents back, but I hope I can help ease the pain some." Yakumo was quiet for a minute before she wiped her face off as she did a bow to Naruto.

"T-Thank you...Hokage-Sama!" Naruto gave a smile and nodded as she straightened herself and went back to her pew to sit down.

"I hope this is satisfactory for now, Unkai." Unkai didn't say anything as he just turned and went back his seat as everyone kept their glares on him. "Now, does anyone else have anything to say?"

Everyone looked around, and this time, they were even more sure they had no objections as Naruto let out a laugh.

"Then, I want to thank everyone here, and I officially turn it back over to Shikaku for the closing remarks." Everyone saluted when Naruto walked to the side as Shikaku took back over as he looked across everyone.

"I believe any fears we had about his maturity has been answered...I also don't believe anymore has to be said...Hokage-Sama, every one of us here pledge to serve you!" Everyone in the room saluted as Shikaku said one last thing "This concludes the ceremony for Naruto Uzumaki as the Fifth Hokage of Konoha!"

Everyone let out a cheer as the drums began playing again as Shikaku lead Naruto down the aisle as the flags were lowered once again when he walked by, as some of the clansmen either bowed towards him or reached their hands out as Naruto shook them, a bit overwhelmed by the moment as a goofy grin was plastered on his face.

From the door though, Kakashi just watched, a smile present under his mask.

" _Naruto...When Jiraiya said you had a hidden mature side, I didn't think it meant you could hold the presence that a Hokage would hold. This village is in safe hands under you; I hope the people around you lead you in the right direction."_

* * *


	4. Same Office, New Identity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Fifth Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, starts his first day with a variety of things on the agenda, from surrender agreements to mission assignments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will most likely be the last chapter released for a little bit as my vacation comes to an end, but I hope you all enjoy all the same! Not much to really say but we're getting closer to some action so look forward to that! As always feel free to review, either positive or negative, and I hope everyone enjoys!

After shaking more hands than he ever thought he would and thanking everyone who bowed towards him, Naruto was finally guided out of the ceremony room by Shikaku as Kakashi joined them as the three headed back to the main floor.

As they walked, the sounds of the ceremony room getting quieter and quieter, Shikaku looked back as he spoke: "Hokage-sama, though not many things are planned today since we need to get you back out into the village so not to raise suspicion, we do have something major that needs to be heard."

"Hm? What is it?"

"The village of Sunagakure has agreed to surrender for their involvement in the Chunin Exams attack and has sent delegates over to discuss the surrender conditions. The delegates are currently being guarded at one of the local inns." Naruto gulped as he nodded, knowing that his first test as Hokage was already fast approaching him.

"I see, do you know the basics of it?"

"From what they've said, they will send monetary relief to assist in the reconstruction efforts, along with supplies for people who lost their homes. They will also release all our prisoners that they have taken over the years." Naruto nodded, that sounded pretty good. But…

"That sounds...A little too good, I know it's a surrender but…"

"Yes I thought so as well, and it is a little too good to be true. They are also requesting we release all of their prisoners as well, and also wish for us not to send any units out to kill the trio of Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari…" Naruto clenched his hands when he heard the names before releasing them as he let out a sigh.

"Well...It seems it won't be as easy of an negotiation as it initially sounded like." Shikaku and Kakashi both eyed each other as they kept walking up more and more stairs, the servants not being allowed to leave their rooms so as not to find out who the new Hokage was quite yet.

Finally, they reached the top floor as they stopped right before the Hokage's office as Naruto took a deep breath, having been in the room many times, yet…"Hokage-sama, this is your office."

Shikaku spoke as he opened the door, revealing the same office Naruto had been in so many times. Yet despite being the same room, Naruto felt like a stranger in the room as he walked in and looked around, all of the personal items of the Third already taken down.

"The room is rather simplistic right now, as soon as the public ceremony has finished, we will begin decorating it with your own belongings." Naruto just nodded as he walked over to the desk and looked at it, a small nostalgic smile gracing his lips as he rubbed the top of it before he walked around and pulled the chair out.

He looked at for what felt like forever before sitting down in it and pulling himself up to the desk as he leaned back, the room he had been in so many times seeming so much larger than it actually was.

Kakashi and Shikaku stood in front of the desk unmoving as Naruto kept looking everything over before sighing as he looked at Kakashi "I have a lot to do, but I guess I can't do it all at once, huh?"

"Well, you can if you wish, but...The Jonin council believes it would be best for you to do a few tasks each morning before returning to the village, so nobody suspects you. It's your choice of course."

"No no, If that's what the Jonin council believes is best; how can I argue with them?" Naruto gave a small laugh as he sat up in the chair "So, other than the surrender discussions, what other urgent things need to be attended to?"

"Well plenty of little paperwork needs to be done, but it's not urgent...I would say the most urgent thing is the slow recovery effort by the village. The citizens were not trained for construction, and as such the repairs are slow and the job isn't exactly satisfactory, to say the least." Naruto listened to Shikaku's words as he nodded.

"Hm...Can we hire anybody?"

"We sent out a request, but the only offer came from a far away village, and because of our long the travel would be, their rate is quite expensive." Naruto nodded as he looked down at the paper Shikaku laid on his desk as his eyes went wide at their asking price.

"A-Ah yeah...That's...Wow…" Naruto couldn't count how much ramen he could buy with that much as he looked over the damage report and what else needed to be done as he began to think. "Kakashi...That mission we did, the one with Zabuza and Haku. We met a bridge builder, in the land of waves I believe?"

"Hm? Yeah, his name was Tazuna." Naruto nodded as he leaned back in his chair.

"You think they would be willing to assist? He has quite a few workers under him, and I think they finished the bridge they were working on."

"Well…" Kakashi looked at Shikaku who handed another paper to Naruto.

"We sent out a request to them; however, it seems many mercenaries are still after their lives, specifically the bridge builder you mentioned. We don't exactly know why, but not only would we have to fund their projects here, but we would also have to fund a defense for them." Naruto looked it over and sighed as he began to think once again.

"Hm...Sensei always had a plan for this…" Shikaku looked at Kakashi when Naruto said sensei though Kakashi just shrugged "He always liked combining two missions so to make a greater reward...So why don't we try that?"

"What do you mean?"

"We'll have Suna pay for them, and they said they were going to give money for the reconstruction effort anyway. So we'll have them pay the bridge builders and also pay us to protect the builders, we don't lose anything, and we also can hurry up the reconstruction."

"Hm, that can work...But I don't know if they would agree to that…"

"Well it's called negotiations, isn't it? Besides Sensei hates playing Mahjong against me because he says he can't read my expressions. So I won't show any emotion, I'll treat them like I treat a game of Mahjong, serious and no emotion." Naruto had a goofy expression as he smiled as Kakashi and Shikaku looked at each other in confusion. "Anyway, go ahead and have them come here, the longer we wait, the more impatient they might become."

"Understood." Shikaku saluted as he vanished in a puff of smoke as Naruto looked at Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, inform Asuma-sensei to have his team on standby."

"Hm? How come?"

"Because they're going to have some builders to escort."

* * *

After Kakashi left, Naruto patiently waited in his office as he kept looking over the costs of everything as he tried to form plans in his head until a knock was heard on the door as Shikaku came in. "Hokage-sama, the delegates from Sunagakure."

Naruto nodded; he placed the papers down as he folded his hands as Shikaku lead the delegates inside. The two delegates walked inside, and when they locked eyes with Naruto, all three of them narrowed their eyes as the man spoke "Y-You!?"

"Of all the people to delegate...That request about you two and Gaara makes more sense now…" The delegates were none other than Kankuro and Temari, both of whom looked less than pleased to be there "But I'm surprised, just two delegates?"

"Tch, the village council is trying to frame this on Orochimaru and us, so this is our punishment, to surrender ourselves." Naruto nodded as Temari spoke in a harsh tone as her and Kankuro sat down on the seats in front of the desk "But to think that the one who defeated Gaara was the Hokage in waiting...I guess it makes a bit more sense now."

"Heh, trust me, it was a surprise to us all…" Naruto gave a small laugh to lighten the mood, but after seeing the two sand ninja stay stoneface, he lost his smile as he looked down at the surrender request. "Now a few things on here need to be changed…"

"What a surprise, you want more."

"You are the ones surrendering; don't forget that." Temari gave another whatever face while Kankuro gripped onto his pants. "Regarding the aid to our village, I wish to change this."

"What, don't want our help with it?"

"On the contrary, I offer a compromise. You see our village was not equipped to build and repair large amounts of damage, we have often relied on outside groups to do that. However this is the biggest attack on our village in years, and so the prices for such an outsider is quite high."

"Your point?"

"My point is this; we have a group of constructors from the Land of Waves who are willing to come here and repair everything. They are cheaper than anybody else, Yet the leader of their group is sought after by many mercenaries, and because of this, they cannot safely make it here. I'm offering that instead of paying us outright, you owe a one-time payment for their protection and then a monthly fee for their work here. While long term this will cost you more money, your village is facing a financial crisis right now, right?"

The two of them didn't say anything yet Naruto could read on their faces that he was right.

"Well, this will allow you to save money in the short term and only give out smaller amounts of cash per month instead of one big payment all at once. I believe this is fair for both sides?" The two of them looked at each other and whispered a few things as Kankuro spoke.

"Only if-"

"No." Naruto cut the both of them off as he looked across both of their faces "I'm offering to not devastate your economy all at once, after all, if the village had an economic crisis right now, while not having a Kage? It sounds like civil war to me."

The two of them glared at Naruto before they whispered to each other again as Kankuro sighed as he spoke "Fine...We'll accept that…"

Naruto smiled as the old woman from the ceremony, who had accompanied the delegates, began writing up a new surrender agreement. "Now onto the next topic...As for supplies, this is not a high enough number to make an impact."

"That's-"

"Of course we need more...But I understand that supplies such as food and water are not easy to give away, even in a surrender agreement. So I offer another compromise to this." Naruto pulled out a document and laid it on his desk "This is the current trade agreement between our two villages...It's outdated, to say the least as the materials in it are no longer needed by either village. I'm willing to start a new trade agreement between our villages, where you will send food and water every week, and in exchange, we will remove all tax tariffs on our products for you."

"Tax tariffs?"

"I was reading while I waited for you two, and found out that if another village wishes to buy items from us, they are required to pay a twenty-five percent tax. I'm willing to get rid of that for your village in exchange for food and water every week; this will allow your village to buy items from us that you may not normally find and not have to pay extra."

Kankuro and Temari both seemed surprised by this as they looked at each other as Temari spoke "What game are you playing? I thought you said we were the ones surrendering?"

"You are, don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart. But our people need all the supplies they can get, and while a bunch of supplies all at once can help, a weekly supply of them will be even better, but to get that, I need to give up something, with that being the tariffs...Is this acceptable as well? This should offset the long term effect of the builders, correct?"

Kankuro and Temari whispered to each other once again before Kankuro spoke "Alright...That's fine."

Naruto nodded as the old woman added the trade agreement terms to the surrender document. "Onto where things become a bit iffier...You wish to do a prisoner exchange, all of your prisoners for all of our prisoners, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"The problem with that is that we did take some prisoners during the Chunin Exams attack...We will release all prisoners not involved in that attack, but anyone who was taken as a prisoner of war during the attack will stay with us...Agree?"

Kankuro went to speak, but Temari beat him to the punch "This is the one thing the council wanted the most was all of the prisoners released, including the ones involved in the attack."

"I see, so this is non-negotiable, is that what you're saying?" Temari nodded as Naruto sighed as he tried to think of something when another idea hit him "Then how about this. I will agree also to release the prisoners involved in the attack, but with a catch. Every one of the prisoners who we captured during the Chunin attack are never to be allowed back into Konoha and should any of the Shinobi's from our village kill one of them outside of your walls; they cannot be held accountable."

"So what, are you going to kill them now?"

"No...I'll put a week-long stoppage into place to where no one is allowed to have any hostilities with your village, including the prisoners. This should allow your prisoners to return home safely, and as long as they don't leave your village, they should remain safe."

"So basically, you're just making them prisoners in their own home."

"Well, you can look at it that way." Temari and Kankuro spoke to each other once again as Kankuro retook the lead in the negotiations.

"Fine...We have to get those guys back, above everything else…" Naruto nodded as the prisoner exchange was added to the new agreement.

"The final piece is regarding the safety of you two along with Gaara...I have no problems with this, but only on-"

"On one condition, like everything else right?" Naruto gave a small laugh as he leaned back in his chair with a smile.

"Well, I promise to be more generous with this one...I promise to adhere to this, but only if you three agree to a training agreement with us."

"Training agreement?"

"Yes...All three of you are worthy challengers in battle, and I believe Konoha could benefit from learning from you three. Kankuro, you are a master with puppets and could help the young ones with chakra control. Temari, you are excellent at long range combat, something that many of our own are only novices with. Finally, regarding Gaara, I wish to get to know him better, if only because I sensed something in him that I feel."

"What would we get out of the deal? Just our protection?"

"Well if that's all you want…" Naruto gave a small laugh as he leaned up in his chair and placed his hands back onto the table "I'll pay all three of you if you agree to assist in training, and it will be fair payment as well. You'll also have access to the facilities that our own Shinobi use, such as the local training grounds, and if you desire, I'll have an escort prepared for you every time you travel between our two villages."

Kankuro and Temari both seemed surprised at the deal as they talked to each other far longer than any of the other subjects as Kankuro spoke one last time. "Alright...We'll do it."

"Excellent…" The old woman finished up writing out the new surrender agreement as she handed it to Naruto, who looked it over and smiled as he handed it to Kankuro. "I'll allow the two of you read it over before I sign it, in case you have a change of heart."

Kankuro and Temari both looked over the paper, and after a few moments of hesitation, Kankuro laid the article on the desk as the two of them signed it and handed it back to Naruto. Naruto smiled as he signed his first ever document as Hokage as he extended his hand.

"I'll send over a copy of this to your village so it should already be there when you arrive back home." They both looked at the extended hand though neither one returned the shake as Naruto let his hand fall back down to the desk.

Kankuro just sighed as he began walking back, though Temari just stood in front of Naruto before she started speaking "What game are you trying to play? That was too generous of a surrender agreement."

"We both got what we want to a degree, and I don't see-"

"The problem is that it's a surrender agreement, both sides aren't supposed to benefit from it...While it's true that Konoha is the winner in the deal, it still benefits Suna to a degree, why is that?" Temari kept her stone cold look on Naruto who just gave a small laugh as he pushed himself up from his seat to meet her at eye level.

"While it's true that it was a surrender, and your village does have to owe us...It's also true that the people of your village were following orders, while the civilians weren't involved at all. While I could devastate your entire village by demanding everything, I know all too well how it feels to live on your own and to survive off the streets...I don't wish for anyone, not even a rival village to go through that. At the same time, I also see Suna as a strong military power, and depending on the next Kazekage, I wish to ally in the future, so think of this as my olive branch for that."

Temari stared at Naruto directly in the eyes as she processed what had just said: "A leader is only supposed to care about his own people, not anybody else…"

"Was that how the fourth Kazekage was?" Temari bit down on her lip and didn't say anything as Naruto continued "Well...I feel that's how a lot of people might be, and while the people of Konoha come first, I'm not going to destroy another person's life just because of where they were raised. That's just me though…"

Temari kept looking at Naruto before she looked down with a confused look in her eye "How the hell did someone as soft as you become Hokage?"

She didn't say anything else as she turned and left with Kankuro, leaving just Naruto, Shikaku and the old woman in the room, though shortly after the woman left as well, her job of creating the new treaty being fulfilled.

After a moment, Naruto let out a long sigh as he fell back into his chair with an exhausted look "Man that was tense, I could feel my heart beating out of my chest…"

Shikaku looked at Naruto with surprise as he spoke: "Well I must say, I wasn't expecting that type of diplomacy right off the bat."

"Well ever since I was young, Sensei has made me barter with shopkeepers and bartenders, so I'm kinda used to making deals...I just treated it like I dealt with them; make it seem really good to them when it's actually much better for you."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that all that practice actually meant something in the end, because that is a fantastic agreement in my opinion." Naruto gave a sheepish smile as along with a small laugh as he looked back over the papers.

"Kakashi is having Asuma prepare his team to guide the bridge builders from the Land of Waves to here...Shikaku, have Guy and Kurenai prepare their teams and then have the two of them report to me."

"Of course Hokage-sama, though may I ask what for?"

"The prisoner exchange...I'll have both of their teams go with Temari and Kankuro, along with the Suna Prisoners back to their village, and then I'll have them escort our own prisoners back, as I'm sure many of them are in no physical condition to fight."

"I see...I agree as well; they may be lacking in physical strength after so long, so an escort is needed. Plus by guarding the delegates and their own prisoners, we can further extend that olive branch you were talking about with them."

"Yeah that as well…" Well Naruto wasn't exactly thinking it about it like that, he just thought it would be the reasonable thing to do, but hey it all works out.

"One last thing, what are the other Jonin doing?"

"Well a few are on some low-level missions, but many of them are still guarding the village in case of a counter attack."

"I see...Well have all the available Jonin, Chunin and Genin go around the village and start handing out food and water to the homeless, especially the women and children. Since Suna will be sending a weekly supply, we can afford to start digging into the rations a little bit." Shikaku saluted as Naruto signaled he may leave.

After Shikaku vanished and Naruto was all alone, he let out one long sigh as he slumped in his chair "It's only been a few hours, and I'm already beat...I could go for some Ichiraku right now…."

* * *

_Team Asuma_

The early morning sun shone brightly as Shikamaru slumped in his chair, as the smell of food resonated from the kitchen of the restaurant he was in. Today was supposed to be his day off, yet all of a sudden, Asuma had come to his house and told him to meet up at their usual place.

Despite taking forever to get out of bed and actually arrive, he still seemed to be the first one as the restaurant only had elderly people in it, many of whom would stay there all day if given a chance.

As Shikamaru looked over the people inside with little interest, a voice popped him out of his wandering as someone sat in front of him "You too huh?"

Shikamaru turned in his seat as Ino Yamanaka, one of his team members, had slouched down right in front of him, the sleep still not having left her eyes as she laid her head down on the table, wanting to return to the land of dreams.

"Yeah...It's a pain, calling us here on our day off."

"Did he tell you why?"

"No...He just came to my door, woke me up and told me to meet here. Before I could ask any questions, he left rather quickly…"

"Same, I was sleeping so well too...After he woke me up, it took forever for me to do my hair and get ready." Ino and Shikamaru both sighed as they stayed slumped in their chairs, the smell of food getting closer and closer, until…

"Morning guys!" They both opened their eyes and looked as Choji Akimichi, the last member of their team, sat down at their table with a plate full of food as he began chowing down.

"Choji...I'm surprised you're so awake…"

"Well, I wasn't really sleeping anyway, dad was gone all night as he said he had something to take care of. So I was pretty bored and spent most of the night training, along with my favorite midnight snack!"

"Your dad was gone to Choji?" Ino pulled her head up as she looked at Choji who nodded as he kept eating. "He say where he was going?"

"Nope. Just said something about a big thing that was happening and that it would take all night, have no idea what it was for."

"Same goes for me." Shikamaru spoke as he stretched out and basically laid across the seat as his teammates eyed him "I was planning on going around with my dad last night when he suddenly said that the Jonin council had an important mission to carry out and he would be gone all night."

"That's weird...I know that your dad along with Choji's are on the Jonin council, but mine isn't...I wonder what he was doing?"

"*Munch* Maybe it had to do with the new Hokage? *Munch*."

"New Hokage?"

"Oh yeah...Sakura was asking me about that yesterday, and dad also mentioned it."

"Mentioned what? What's this about a new Hokage?" Ino perked her head up as Shikamaru let out a sigh as he began to speak

"Apparently the Jonin council approved the Fifth Hokage yesterday morning...I have no idea who it is, but Sakura thinks it could be Guy-sensei since Kakashi-sensei wasn't allowed to vote apparently."

"Does that mean we have a new Hokage now?"

"Well from what I read, if they were approved yesterday morning, then sometime yesterday they would have had a private ceremony for him and allow him to work in the shadows until his public announcement...So the chances of our dads attending that this morning is high I would say."

"A new Hokage huh? I wonder who it could be…?"

"Maybe it's *Munch* Guy-sensei*Munch* like Sakura said*Munch*."

"I don't know...Guy-sensei has always come off as a goofball to me, and don't even get me started on him and Lee. Hm, it has to be someone strong, and maybe mysterious, oh! They have to be charismatic and good looking as well!"

"If you're trying to say it's Sasuke then you're way off, no way would they ever promote a Genin to Hokage."

"I know that! While I think Sasuke is more than capable for the job, I think he wouldn't want it anyway!"

"Well then, who do you think it is then?"

"Obviously it has to be Kurenai-sensei!"

"...Kurenai?"

"Yep! Think about it! She's very mysterious, not revealing her true side to anybody! She's very easy to talk to and gets along with everyone, and almost every guy says she's one of the best looking women in the village and she's powerful!"

"My only question to that is why they would forbid Kakashi from voting? I don't think they're exactly all that close...If anybody they would forbid not only Asuma-sensei, but Kurenai-sensei herself, don't you think?"

"Maybe Kakashi-sensei was lying to throw off the scent!"

"Well...I guess that's possible…"

"*Munch* I think it might *Munch* actually be Asuma-sensei himself! *Munch* Why else would he call us out here? *Munch*."

"Again I highly doubt it...Like with Kurenai-sensei, they would ask both her and Asuma-sensei not to vote, while Kakashi-sensei wouldn't really matter. Also if he was calling us out to tell us he had become Hokage, I doubt it would be in such a public place, it would make more sense to tell us somewhere private."

"Well, fine Mr Know it all! Who do you think the Fifth is!?" Ino glared at Shikamaru who just shrugged as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Who knows? They might not even be someone currently in the village; after all, they could choose either Jiraiya-sama or Tsunade-sama for the job…"

"Hm...Well, they would be more than qualified…" Shikamaru let out a long breath as the three of them continued to debate who they thought the new Hokage was when finally a fourth figure arrived.

"Glad to see everyone here." The trio looked at the new figure as Shikamaru said in a casual voice.

"You're late...Like always…Asuma-sensei." The fourth figure was indeed Asuma as he gave an awkward chuckle.

"Well, I had a few things to take care of, so sorry about that!"

"Sensei, why do we have to meet up on our day off…?" Asuma looked at Ino as he gave a smile towards her.

"Because we've been assigned a mission, that's why!"

"A mission? Is it so important that we couldn't wait until tomorrow…?"

"Well considering that it came from the Hokage-sama, then yes I would say it's quite important." The three of them immediately perked up as Asuma kept his smile towards them.

"The Hokage, you mean the new one…?"

"Well unless my dad can issue orders from the grave, then yes I mean the Fifth Hokage."

"Who is it? Is it Kurenai-sensei!?" Asuma raised an eyebrow as he swung his head.

"Kurenai? No, it's not…"

"Then is it *Munch* You Asuma-sensei?*Munch*."

"No, it's not me…"

"Is it one of the legendary sannin…?"

"No, it's...Look...I can't tell you who it is until you found out like the rest of the village during the public ceremony unless the Hokage specifically says he wants you guys to know." The trio just sighed as they sat back as Shikamaru looked up at Asuma.

"So...What's the mission?"

"Well, that's the thing...He wanted me to have you guys get prepared and then go find out about the mission."

"He? So it's not Kurenai-sensei or Tsunade-sama?" Asuma internally facepalmed as he continued on.

"Again I'm not going to say anything...But anyway, we're going to head on over to the Hokage's tower. Of course you three won't be allowed to meet with the Fifth, so you'll have to wait outside."

"Well, better than falling asleep in this booth I guess…"

"Man...What a drag…"

"*Munch* Can I get seconds first?*Munch*

* * *

As Asuma and his team walked to the Hokage Tower, Shikamaru noticed how the closer they got, less and less civilians were seen, and more and more Jonin were present, until it was nothing but Jonin and Chunin guarding the area.

Once they arrived at the tower, two guards were standing at the front gate as Asuma looked at them "Well I'll head on in and get the mission details, you three stay here and wait for me."

The three of them nodded as Asuma turned and headed inside, the guards keeping their eyes on the three genins as they walked over and sat down on a bench directly facing the tower "Ugh, this sucks...Not only do we have to do a mission on our day off, but we don't even get to know who's ordering us around!"

"Trust me, I'm no fan of it either, but if it's important enough for the Hokage to issue it and not the Retired Ninja Council, then it must be pretty important…"

"Still Shikamaru! Couldn't he have picked some other team?"

"Quit complaining...For all we know, every team has been assigned a mission, and we may have gotten the easiest one…" Ino went to protest, but after thinking over his words, she just slumped on the bench as the only noise were the birds and Choji's eating.

As minutes passed, the silence was interrupted by Choji himself "I think Asuma-sensei just arrived in the Hokage's room."

"Huh…? What makes you say that?" Choji pointed upwards as Shikamaru trailed his arm as it pointed towards the windows on the top.

"I saw the Hokage's cloak move just now."

"His cloak…?" Shikamaru squinted as he looked up and was surprised as he saw a white fabric resting on the armchair. "Huh...Guess this is our first view of the fifth…"

"What? Where at!?" Ino jumped up as she looked up at the window and when she saw the cloak she just sighed "Ah...That's nothing...I thought you meant we could see something…"

"I mean it's better than nothing…" Ino sighed again as she went back to listening to the birds chirping as she looked over as she saw some eating some crumbs that were on the ground when an idea suddenly hit her.

"Wait! I know how we can find out who it is!"

"...What are you planning…?"

"Watch and learn boys!" Ino got up and walked over to the birds as Shikamaru and Choji just watched her.

"Choji...I have a feeling this won't end well…"

"Oh is that what that feeling is? I thought I might have eaten too many beans…" Shikamaru ignored Choji's comments as Ino formed her hand sign.

"Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!" As soon as the words left Ino's mouth, her body fell limp to the ground as one of the birds hopped forward and lifted it's wing as if to wave at Shikamaru and Choji before it flew up towards the window.

" _Now Hokage-Sama lets see who you are…"_ Ino flew right up to the window and looked inside as she saw the backside of the Hokage along with Asuma " _I see his robes are different...Let's see, Asuma-sensei is looking over a piece of paper; the Hokage is nodding…"  
_

Ino saw her big chance as the Hokage moved his head to the side and when she flew a bit to see it…" _Let's see who you are...Wait...What!?"  
_

Ino couldn't believe it! How could she!? She thought she would be in for a surprise sure, but she didn't expect this when she came to investigate. Of all the things...It had to be…

" _How is this possible…? I mean Asuma-sensei is there but...But…"_

" _Where's the Hokage!?"_ Indeed, though his robes were present, there appeared to be nothing under the hat as when she saw him turn his head, it was nothing but air, as if the outfit was moving on its own. _This doesn't make sense! This is...Is…"_

"It's called genjutsu." Ino internally shrieked as a hand wrapped around her as she released herself from the bird and returned to her normal body as she lifted herself up and looked at the window, where a member of the ANBU was holding the bird in its hand.

After releasing the bird, the agent vanished, only to reappear right in front of her as she backed up towards Shikamaru and Choji until her back was facing the bench as the agent crossed his arms "I-I'm sorry! I-I…"

"Stop, I know you were trying to see who Hokage-sama is, but didn't your sensei tell you to wait down here until he gets back? Not only is disobeying him punishable, but you were technically trespassing on unauthorized land. Until the public ceremony, nobody under the rank of Jonin is allowed inside of the gates, unless permitted by the Hokage himself, understand?"

Ino just nodded as the ANBU looked at Shikamaru and Choji.

"Goes for you two as well, understand?" The two of them also just nodded as the agent seemed alright with the non-talkative response as he vanished, leaving the three of them alone.

"i-I didn't even sense him, how…?"

"Well...They are apart of the ANBU for a reason...Not just any section of the ANBU either, but the ones guarding the Hokage." Shikamaru yawned speaking as he closed his eyes. "But yeah, I figured it wouldn't be that easy."

"*Munch* Ino...Want some?*Munch*." Offering Ino some of his snacks after seeing her so scared, she just gave a small smile and nodded as he poured some of it into her hand.

* * *

As Asuma trekked up the stairs towards the Hokage's office, he tried to think of what type of mission he would be assigned. All he knew was that Kakashi had told him to get his team ready and then report to the Hokage's office afterward. Nothing more, nothing less…

After finally reaching the top floor, Asuma knocked on the office door before opening it as he saw the Fifth Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, looking incredibly tired as he looked over some papers. "You wished to see me Hokage-sama?"

Naruto looked up and smiled at Asuma as he laid the paper he was reading over and down "Ah Asuma, welcome! Hope your team didn't mind the early wake-up call?"

"Heh...I'm sure they'll get over it soon enough. So, I was told by Kakashi that you have a mission prepared for us?" Naruto nodded as he searched through the drawers on his desk before pulling out a folder as he laid it on his desk.

"Yes...Have you ever heard of the Land of Waves Asuma?"

"Of course, I've been there a few times myself, though it has been a while."

"I see, then that speeds up the process...I'm not sure if you are aware, but a while back, me and my team were sent on a mission to escort a builder to a bridge they were working on. What originally started off as a C rank mission quickly became an S rank one when we were involved in combat with the Mist ninja Zabuza and Haku."

"Yes I know about that mission, and how Team Seven gained a lot of fame from it...if I'm not mistaken, Kakashi is the one who killed Zabuza while you took out Haku."

"I would say it was more of a team effort, but officially that is how it is worded...I say this because these same builders need to be escorted here to our village because they are to assist and hopefully speed up the recovery efforts from Orochimaru's attack. Now at its core, this is a simple escort mission; however, I have been informed that the builders, specifically the main one Tazuna, have been targeted once again by mercenaries, though what for I do not know. Because of this, I believe that this mission should at the very least be considered B Rank."

"While I'll gladly accept the mission sir, wouldn't this be better suited for a team of at least Chunin? I only have Genin on my squad."

"Well to be fair, the Chunin Exams were left incomplete, and because of that, until we redo them, we cannot promote any Genin to Chunin. However, I was looking through the many files in my desk and found that the Retired Ninja Council has already recommended Shikamaru for the rank of Chunin."

"...! I didn't know…"

"Of course, it's just a recommendation...But I feel like his intellect and skills are worthy for at least consideration. I know he lost in the Chunin Exams, but he did forfeit, something he chose over ending Temari's life. I believe this is also something we should look for in a good leader." Asuma nodded as Naruto gave a smile as he opened up the folder.

"Long story short, I believe your team is qualified for this mission as Ino and Choji can certainly put up a fight if nothing else...Now regarding all the information on the mission." Naruto picked up a piece of paper and handed it to Asuma "This contains all the information on the current political structure of the Land of Waves, at least this was the last report ever given to your father."

"I see…"

"It should hopefully be mostly updated, though it may not be a hundred percent accurate, I hope it will suffice." Asuma nodded as he continued to read over the report, while he did so Naruto saw something out of the corner of his eye and when he turned he saw a...Bird?

A bird was flying right outside of his window and seemed to be...Staring at him? Could a bird stare at you? Naruto thought this over, but as soon as the bird saw him, it seemed to be flabbergasted, if a bird could be flabbergasted that is, as it started to fly up and down, side to side looking him over until an ANBU agent suddenly appeared and caught it.

Naruto was surprised as he didn't see any danger in the bird, but what surprised him even more was that the agent just released it soon afterward as it just flew away as if nothing had happened before he vanished himself.

That might have been the strangest thing Naruto had ever seen.

As Naruto kept staring out the window, he heard Asuma place the paper back on the desk which recaptured his attention 'I've read it over, and while the political landscape has seemed to change since I was there, the geography seems to be the same."

"Good good, so you should have no problems getting there?"

"None."

"Alright, awesome!" Naruto gave a thumbs up to Asuma who seemed surprised by the gesture, but he couldn't help but smile at Naruto who immediately realized his semi-facade had vanished as he coughed into his hand and continued. "A-Anway, I'll send out the message to Tazuna so he should be prepared by the time you arrive. Any questions?"

"None sir!"

"Alright...Asuma, I hereby assign you and Team 10 to this B Rank Mission." Asuma saluted as he turned and left as Naruto kept his smile the entire time, though as soon as Asuma left he slumped down in his chair and sighed "Man...I'm glad I've been reading over all the reports in this desk; otherwise I would be so lost right now…

* * *

Not too long after the bird incident, Asuma walked out of the tower holding a mission scroll as Shikamaru opened his eye and looked at him "What type of mission is it?"

"Well, it's our first B Rank mission."

"B Rank…?" Shikamaru was a bit surprised since that was usually reserved for Chunin, though Asuma just nodded.

"Yeah, It's an escort mission with a medium chance of engaging in battle."

"I see...Where are we going?"

"To the Land of Waves, we are to escort a builder and his crew back to our village so he can begin helping in the reconstruction effort. Apparently, quite a few mercenaries have it out for the head builder, so we need to stay sharp, any questions?"

None of the three said anything as they all stood up and side by side each other, their serious side starting to take over.

"Alright, head home and prepare for the trip and meet me at the gates in one hour, Team Ten, head out!"

* * *

_Team Guy_

"One Thousand...One thousand and one...One thousand and two…" As the wind silently blew throughout the training field, the only sound that could be heard came from the genin Rock Lee, who was currently doing his early morning routine that started around four in the morning and lasted all the way until lunch time.

As Lee kept his rhythmic pattern, he barely noticed the footsteps approaching him until the owner of said footsteps spoke: "Early as usual I see."

After a few more pushups, Lee stopped and stood up as he looked at the figure who had approached "Ah Tenten! Good morning!"

Tenten just nodded towards him as she leaned against one of the training posts as she saw Lee's uniform covered in dirt "Training today like usual?"

"Of course! I'll never become stronger if I just rest at home all day! But I am surprised; you're usually not here until lunchtime." Tenten sighed as she shrugged.

"I was polishing my weapons when Guy-sensei suddenly knocked on my door and told me to report to the training ground, and he would meet us when Neji was informed." Lee nodded as he began to think.

"Hm, I wonder what Guy-sensei has prepared. Maybe it's a new training exercise that you can only do in the morning!"

"No it's not that, he told me it was because an urgent mission came up and it needed to be taken care of right away."

"A mission? Did he say what kind?" Tenten shook her head as she closed her eyes.

"No...He just said the new Hokage had an urgent mission for us to do."

"New Hokage?"

"Hm? Did you not know? I heard that the new Hokage was announced and approved yesterday. I don't know who it is, but I'm assuming it's either one of the jonin or the Legendary Sannin."

"Hm...Indeed, we have many qualified jonin in this village, such as Guy-sensei himself! However, Guy-sensei wouldn't lie to us about a mission if he was the one chosen, so my only guess is that it's someone such as Kakashi-sensei."

"Who knows? Whoever it is, I just hope that this important mission is actually a mission and not something such as finding his daughters lost cat."

"If Guy-sensei said it's an important mission, then I have every right to believe it's an incredible mission, such as tracking down and killing Orochimaru!"

"I'm pretty sure an entire elite force would be constructed for something like that, not just one team of three, four including sensei."

"Hm...That is true…" As Lee and Tenten continued to talk, they noticed two figures approaching them as Lee stood at attention while Tenten kept her laid back style on the post "Neji! Guy-sensei, good morning!"

"Lee, Tenten…" Neji gave his usual greeting as he started to walk towards them when…

"Lee! That was a pathetic good morning! You have to put all your emotion into it! Do you understand what I'm saying!?" Lee immediately straightened up as he quickly nodded.

"Of course Guy-sensei! I'll be sure to put all my emotion into everything!"

"That's the spirit! Now give me a good morning that's worth everything, that makes your bones rattle, that makes your blood pumping! Give me that good morning!"

"Yes, Guy-sensei! GOOD MORNING!"

"That's the spirit Lee! Show me that emotion!" Neji and Tenten just sighed at Lee's and Guy's usual banter as Neji coughed into his hand.

"Sensei, you said you had a mission for us?"

"Ah, that's right! Alright everyone, line up!" Neji and Tenten stood beside Lee, who still had tears of joy running down his face from having such an emotional conversation with Guy. "Now then, I don't know what exactly the mission we're be doing is, but I do know that we won't be the only team involved in this one."

"Huh? We won't be?"

"That's right! This will be a two-team job! We will be with Tem Eight on this mission, so working together is key!"

"Team Eight huh…?" Tenten looked at Neji who just gave a scoff as he lowly spoke.

"Well, as long as she doesn't get in the way we should be fine." Tenten and Lee didn't say anything as they knew precisely who Neji was talking about.

"Nobody will be getting in the way Neji, that's not what teamwork is all about, remember that!" Guy, on the other hand, wasn't afraid to speak up as Neji just narrowed his eyes and looked downwards "Anyway! We are to report to the Hokage's office right away!"

"Will this mean we will get to meet the new Hokage Guy-sensei!?"

"Sorry Lee, but I'm afraid that anybody lower than Jonin isn't allowed to meet him until the public ceremony. However, don't let that discourage you, use this mystery as a way to better yourself, by making you want to train harder so you can someday uncover this mystery!"

"Ah yes! I will Guy-sensei!" Neji and Tenten again just sighed, not knowing how something as stupid as that was able to motivate Lee.

* * *

_Team Kurenai_

As the sun shone brightly on the Hyuga manor, the servants went about their everyday routine as if nothing had changed before the chunin exams, as instructed to by the head of the household.

However, not everything was quiet. In the dojo of the manor, two sets of feet could be heard slowly walking around each other, judging each other's movements and seeing how the other one would react. Until finally they quickly moved in on each for just a few seconds before jumping backward once again.

On one end of the room breathing heavily was the next in line to take over the Hyuga manor, Hinata Hyuga. On the other end of the room were her cousin and a member of the Branch family Neji Hyuga.

The two kept their stares on each as they both had their byakugan activated, having been training against each other since the sun had risen. However as the fights had gone on, Hinata looked more and more visibly tired, while Neji seemed perfectly fine. "You are a member of the main line, surely something like this isn't enough to wear you down."

"..." Hinata didn't say anything as she stayed in her stance. The fight was being watched by both of their fathers, one sitting on each side of the room as they observed the spar between the two of them.

The two continued to circle each other until a servant rushed into the room and bent down to whisper into Hinata's father's ear, who immediately nodded as he stood up and signaled for the two of them to end their current spar.

Both immediately did so, as Hinata fell down to one knee as Neji glared at her, incredibly unimpressed with her so far as to him, she had improved none since the first rounds of the Chunin exams. As they continued to stare at each other, a knock was heard on the door as Guy walked in. "Neji, glad to see you've taken Lee's approach and are training this early in the morning!"

"Guy-sensei, is there something you need?"

"Yes, there is! The Hokage has assigned us a mission, and as such we are to act on it immediately." Hinata' ears perked up at the mention of the Hokage, she knew that her father and some other clansmen were told who the new Hokage was yesterday, yet despite being apart of the main family, it seemed no one told her specifically.

"I see...Have you already told Lee and Tenten?"

"Well, I already went ahead and told Tenten, so she should be on her way to the training field as we speak. Lee, on the other hand, should already be there, continuing his regular morning exercise program!"

"I see, then I suppose I'll head on as well."

"Well you can just head on with me; after all, I have nowhere else to go now!" Neji just nodded as he looked down at Hinata one last time and spoke.

"Take the time to actually improve yourself while I'm gone." Hinata didn't say anything as Neji left with Guy, leaving her along with her father and uncle who both didn't say anything as they also left the room, leaving her by herself on her knee.

She stayed there to collect her breath, and after a moment she just sighed as she pushed herself up and walked towards the door, only to stop when another knock came at it.

She was initially confused, but soon the door opened as Hinata gave a confused but happy look "K-Kurenai-sensei…?"

"Hinata, I hope your morning has been pleasant so far?" Kurenai walked into the dojo as she gave a loving smile to Hinata who gave a small smile of her own.

"I-I suppose so...W-Why are you here Kurenai-sensei…?"

"Well, we've been assigned a mission by the Hokage, one that apparently is quite urgent, so we are to report to him immediately for the details."

"T-The Hokage…?" Kurenai gave a nod as Hinata looked at the ground for a moment before raising her head "S-Sensei...D-Do you know who the Hokage is?"

"Hm? Did they not tell you?" Hinata shook her head, surprising Kurenai some since she was apart of the main family of the Hyuga clan...Though as she thought about it, and who the Hokage was, she started to see why they maybe didn't tell her. "I see, well I'm sure you're able to see who he is, along with everyone else during the public ceremony."

"U-Um sensei...Do you know who he is?" Kurenai nodded though with a bit of reluctance.

"Yes...I do…"

"T-Then, can you tell me who it is?"

"Well, no I can't...I'm not allowed to tell anyone under the rank of Jonin who the Hokage is unless he specifically tells me to." Hinata just mouthed an 'oh' as she looked back towards the ground, making Kurenai give a guilty look "B-But um, how about this! I'll ask him if you can meet him; sound good?"

"R-Really?"

"Yep!" Hinata gave a smile and a nod to Kurenai, she didn't know why exactly, but it felt like something was telling her she had to know who the Hokage was, but she couldn't place her finger on why exactly. "Now, ready to head out?"

"Y-Yes!" Hinata gave another smile as she walked with Kurenai out of the dojo, talking about a range of stuff from what type of mission she thought it might be to when the public ceremony would be. However, that conversation stopped when they reached the gates of her house.

"Hinata! Glad to see your up early this morning!"

"H-Huh? Kiba? Shino?" Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame, two of her teammates, were outside of her household gates. "W-When did you guys…?"

"Oh, we came with Kurenai-sensei! Figured it would be better if we just tagged along with her to grab ya!" Kiba gave a big smile, and soon a figure popped its head out from his jacket.

"Woof Woof!"

"See? Even Akamaru thought it was a good idea!" Kiba patted Akamaru's head as Hinata kept staring before giving a small laugh.

"I-I see...H-How are you today Shino?"

"...Fine...Thanks…" A man of few words like always, Hinata just smiled and nodded as Kurenai walked in front of them. "Alright you guys, let's head on over to the Hokage tower!"

* * *

As the four of them walked together, the mood drastically morphing into one of goodwill and cheer, they talked about a variety of things from the new Hokage to the weather to even what each of them had for dinner the night before.

However as they all turned the corner, they all saw Team Guy waiting over by a bench, with Lee doing pushups and Tenten and Neji sitting on the bench.

When Lee saw them, he immediately stopped his pushups as she straightened himself out "Kurenai-sensei! It is an honor to embark on today's mission with you and your team!"

"H-Huh embark with us…?" Hinata gave a questioning look to Kurenai.

"Huh? Oh did I not tell you? Today's mission is a co-op mission with Guy's team."

"Co-op mission…? Hinata looked over at Team Guy when her eyes locked with Neji's, making her looked downwards as he just gave a scoff towards her, which didn't go unnoticed by Kiba.

"Hey, you son of a bitch! Don't scoff at her like that, and she is your teammate after all!" Neji opened his eyes and locked them with Kiba as he barely moved.

"She's my teammate is name only, as her skills on the battlefield would only serve to give me a handicap...Though perhaps I can say that about your entire team."

"What did you say!? You wanna go!?"

"Hmph, a fight between us would only last mere seconds before you would be begging for mercy."

"Oh yeah!? Alright, get ready th-"

"That's enough Kiba!" Kurenai yelled out, interrupting the two of them as Kiba looked up at her.

"B-But sensei…"

"No buts! You two may not like each other, but for this upcoming mission, you two are teammates, understand!?"

"Ack...Yeah…"

"Neji, you may not be under me, but goes for you as well, understand?" Neji didn't say anything as he just closed his eyes and laid his head backward, as Tenten and Lee awkwardly looked in between the two of them. "Now...I'm going to go talk to Hokage-sama and acquire the mission details, I ask that all of you don't cause anything while I'm gone."

Her team all just nodded at her while Team Guy just kept staring at Neji as she walked past all of them and into the tower.

* * *

Naruto sat at his desk looking through the many papers that contained details concerning the route between the village and Suna, along with whatever threats may rear their ugly heads along the way over there.

As he continued to read over all of them, he heard a knock on his door before it opened as Might Guy walked in "Hokage-sama! Might Guy here reporting for duty!"

"Ah Guy, I'm glad to see you here! I'm guessing the others are outside waiting?"

"Yes sir! They are also all ready to go as well!"

"Good, glad to hear. Now, do you know anything about the upcoming mission?"

"No nothing, all I know is that it's a co-op mission with Kurenai and her team."

"Yeah that's right, you will be joining Team Eight on this mission. The mission is not only to escort Kankuro and Temari back to their village but also all of their prisoners we have taken over the years. After that is accomplished, you are to then escort our prisoners back from their village and back here safely."

"It sounds like a prisoner swap."

"That is exactly what it is; it was one of the points agreed upon during the surrender agreement talks." Guy nodded as Naruto handed him the piece of paper he was looking over from before."This is the route from Konoha to Suna and should contain all the information you need from geography all the way to potential threats."

"I see, if you don't mind me asking, will any medical ninja be accompanying us? I'm sure the prisoners won't be in the best of health."

"I thought of that; however medical ninja aren't the best fighters in the world, and with the potential of threats, I don't want you having to strain yourself protecting them along with the prisoners. Plus many of the medical ninjas are still treating those wounded during Orochimaru's attack, so I don't want to strain their resources even more."

"Ah, of course, that makes perfect sense sir!" Guy held out his own thumbs up, causing Naruto to laugh as he returned the gesture, making the two of them lose their formal facade for just a moment, though it quickly returned when a knock was heard on the door before it opened.

"Hokage-sama, you wished to see me?"

"Ah Kurenai, I was just explaining to Guy here the details of the mission. I'm sure just like him you have your team prepared?"

"Yes sir, they are currently waiting outside as we speak." Naruto nodded as Guy handed her the piece of paper he was reading over as Naruto explained to her what the paper was. "I see, so our mission is in the village of Sugakure?"

"Yes, the mission is…" Naruto explained the mission details to her, not changing anything from what he told Guy as she nodded and kept reading over the paper. "Any questions?"

"No sir...Well...None regarding the mission…"

"Hm? You have something unrelated to ask?"

"Well...Yes...But I don't wish to interrupt the mission briefing."

"Well other than the rank, everything has been said. Though I should go ahead and do that...I am assigning this mission as a B rank mission as it has the potential of enemy ninja threats if either of you objects, please speak it."

"No sir, me and my team will carry it out wholeheartedly!"

"Team Might Guy always loves a challenge, and we are prepared to carry out this mission in style!" Naruto gave a smile as he nodded as he signed the mission scroll and handed it to Guy.

"Now then...Guy, unless you have any questions you can return to your team while I see what Kurenai needs." Guy nodded as he patted Kurenai on the back and left the room, leaving Naruto and Kurenai. "So...What's up?"

"Well...As you know, other than the Jonin and Clans heads, nobody knows you are Hokage."

"Yeah, that's what I know anyway."

"Well...The main family of each clan was told as well in such an event as the clans head suddenly dying...The only main family member to my knowledge that wasn't informed was Hinata."

"I see…" Naruto straightened himself up as he looked Kurenai in the eye as he had a feeling where this was going. "So I'm guessing…"

"...I wish to not only inform Hinata of your appointment but have her meet with you before embarking on the mission sir." Naruto nodded as he let out a sigh as he thought for a moment "Sir I'm not sure if you're aware, but…"

"Hinata has feelings for me...That's what you want to say, correct?"

"A-Ah yes…"

"Yeah, I know...Sensei broke the news to me right after the first round of the Chunin exams, but he told me to continue to act oblivious because until my training was done, love should be the last thing I worry about." Naruto sighed, as the memory of that conversation coming back into his mind, though he had also been told that because of his feelings for a certain pink haired girl that he had to squash.

"I see...D-Do you return her feelings if you don't mind me asking?"

Naruto shrugged as he pushed himself up from his desk and walked over to the window as he looked down, seeing the two teams on opposite sides of the streets as Guy was walking out of the building. "Who knows? I had some feelings for someone, but at the same time it was more of a crush than anything...I've felt attracted to a lot of the girls around me so who knows?"

"I understand sir; I have to remind myself that you are rather young...Well, it was rude of me to ask anyway about your private life."

"Huh? Oh no, I don't mind…"

"But anyway...With that in mind, would it be alright to go ahead and tell her?" Naruto thought for a moment as he went back to looking outside as he noticed that everyone was looking up at him, though it's not like they could see who he actually was thanks to the genjutsu, as his eyes locked with Hinata's, not like she would know they were locked, as he sighed.

"For the time being...No...Mostly because you are about to embark on quite a dangerous mission, and I don't want her mind sidetracked on other things...Perhaps if the mission is done before the ceremony, I'll tell her...But not until then."

"I-I understand...Yes, of course, we have a mission coming up. I apologize for not thinking about how she might be…"

"Haha, as I said it's fine. Now then, any more questions?"

"Ah no...Thank you, sir! I promise the mission will be a success!"

"Haha, glad to hear!" Kurenai saluted as she left towards the door as Naruto gave one last sigh as he walked back to his desk and took his hat off, his stomach growling loudly. "Oh Jiraiya-sama, it's nice to see you again."

Naruto looked up as he saw Jiraiya passing Kurenai as walked in as Naruto gave a big smile towards him. "Sensei! How are you?"

Jiraiya didn't say anything as he closed the door behind him as he gave a sad but serious look to Naruto, making him confused.

"Sensei…?"

"Naruto...It's time...It's time for you to learn the truth…"

"Truth...I heard that at the ceremony, what truth?"

"The truth...About the day you were born, and the Nine-Tails Fox Attack."


	5. Important Changes Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Important Info

**Notes:** _So my first ever update huh? Well this is kinda of a special case as it has to do with something regarding the last chapter that made me rethink a few things._

_As many know, I had started something such as Hinata wanting to know about Naruto and officially begin the cycle of feeling out the girls and who Naruto should end up with, however many took it as me giving her preference and already deciding her as the final pairing, something that was never meant to be portrayed._

_I was hoping to continue along as usual, however after talking to some people through reviews and PM's, along with my good friend 'Sexyprincesswriter' who regulary writes romance, I've decided to go ahead and go with my personal preference for Naruto._

_I know this decision will make people angry and I understand if any wish to drop the story entirely after this, I'm not making excuses for you to continue read, more along the lines of I need to have an identity for this story, even if it is indeed a slow build._

_Now my plans are not changing with the girls, I wish to still make a few have feelings for Naruto and of course I don't want to rush the final pairing as it will indeed be a long time before they get together, as in during the early stages of the Shippuden Arc when we eventually get to that point, though of course I will have moments between the two and those will begin to happen shortly after his public ceremony._

_Before I announce the final pairings, I want to state that while not everybody will receive a happy ending(Some people will be killed of eventually, though again way down the road) I do have a few pairings Im considering but not set in stone, in fact only three pairings have I decided on, which I shall now list...So without further ado...,_

_For Naruto, I'll be going with my personal favorite pairing that I fell in love with a few years back thanks to reading some fanfiction on them, and that is...Naruto/Temari._

_Not the most popular pairing, but one I personally love and have decided to go with, again apologies for anyone not happy with the choice, but there are plenty of fics that are of much higher quality than mine that includes pairings you enjoy for Naruto._

_The second pairing actually includes the one people were complaining about with Hinata, I don't see this pairing often, but I find it cute and endearing. So the second pairing I have decided on...Is Hinata/Kiba._

_Again not one I see often, but a cute one nonetheless._

_Finally is the one that might seem the most controversial, purely because it's the first Yuri pairing of the story(And maybe the only one, who knows?) I've shipped these two since I was young and have always enjoyed the few fics that feature them. So for the first and maybe only Yuri pairing it is...Sakura/Ino._

_As I said maybe the most controversial one, but one that I again enjoy._

_Those are the only pairings decided on for now, and I still welcome any others that people may have. If you hate any of these, especially the Naruto/Temari one, then I apologize but as I said, plenty of fics are not only of higher quality than mine but have the pairings you want._

_I do have one final piece to share and it's regarding some changes to the canon, all of these points were brought up by 'Aqua-sensei' so I'll be pasting the message I sent them._

" _Onto your concerns._

_I wanted many of these things to be revealed with a flashback chapter later in the story, however I failed to realize that with such big changes, this needed to be explained further, so I shall attempt to do that._

_Regarding Lee, I've changed it to where he was not severely injured by Gaara, though the reason why I cannot share quite yet as it is a spoiler for a future chapter._

_Regarding the team, I was also further implying with Lee, but the extent is that again without spoiling too much, Neji's dad wasn't killed right off the bat. Also regarding his relationship with Hinata, I'm changing it up to where she proves herself to him during their upcoming mission and he didn't fully accept her earlier because well...Spoilers..._

_I apologize for thinking I could hold this off when I clearly couldn't and I hope it didn't affect your enjoyment of the story so far. I'll be posting this in the next notes so everyone can see, so thank you for pointing the issues out."_

_I hope everyone continues to enjoy and if you left because of the pairings, then I wish you a fantastic day and thank you for at least giving my story a chance!(Also the characters on FFN will be changed within 12 hours so everyone has a chance to read, while it will be instant on AO3 since that side is more about the political aspect so far)_


	6. Konoha Recovery Arc:Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the village tredges on since the attack, the wheels behind the scenes begin to spin to repair it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorter chapter due to alot of setup in this one, however after this will begin the Three Chapter "Recovery Arc" so to speak, where we will follow Team Asuma, Team Guy/Kurenai, and Naruto through their missions and adventures to help the village recover and look towards the future.
> 
> If anyone skipped the update, please read it as it has several important information regarding this story and might answer any questions you have! If anyone reviews asking a question that I had answered, then I'll just redirect you to the update so please read it in case you are confused.
> 
> This may be the last chapter for a few weeks because of my work, but I still hope everyones enjoys and will look forward to the next chapter!
> 
> Though here's a fun question, who do you think will replace Naruto on Team Seven? I have a few people in mind but it may not be who you think!

The sand blew harshly against the walls of the KazeKage's tower as the Sunagakure council had convened a special session to discuss the recent surrender agreement that arrived from the village of Konoha.

It had been two days since the surrender talks, and the document they received was not what they were expecting at all.

First, it contained the information they had long sought since the failed attack, who was the Fifth Hokage of Konoha? Many councilmen had assumed that one of the legendary Sannin would be chosen, while others had predicted that the copy ninja Kakashi or the 'man in the shadows', known as Danzo, would have been picked.

So when they saw the name 'Naruto Uzumaki' signed on the surrender agreement, many were shocked and confused, surely this was a jest? While the name of Naruto Uzumaki was already quickly spreading throughout the village as he had defeated Gaara, the jinchuriki of Sunagakure and one of their strongest ninja, they were sure that his age and apparent immaturity would have scared the Fire Daimyo from choosing him, and surely would have prevented the Jonin council from approving of the decision.

It seems that wasn't the case…

For the entire council, Naruto Uzumaki was the ultimate wild card. While some councilmen saw him as a weak young man who had gotten lucky against Gaara, the others viewed him as someone who's real strength was unknown, which made them scared beyond belief.

So without even taking a glance at the surrender agreement, the entire body erupted with discussion when it came to the Hokage.

"This has to be a fluke by those dogs known as Konoha! The chances of them making a Genin their Hokage is such a laughable proposition, that the fact they expected us to believe it is insulting!"

"On the contrary, age is just a number in the end...Naruto Uzumaki may be young and may have the rank of Genin, but that does not indicate one's true strength. For all we know, the village has kept him at such a low rank so to throw off any future enemies. After all, an enemy with knowledge of the ranks would go after the Chunin and Jonin before the Genin."

"Come now; surely you don't expect them to think that far ahead, do you? Konoha has always survived on numbers alone! They aren't smart enough to actually think of a plan such as that!"

"Thinking like that is what made the invasion a failure in the first place! We overlooked Konoha, especially since we sided with Orochimaru, which I remind you that as soon as we let our guard down around him, he struck down Kazekage-sama!"

The arguing among the councilmen escalated as they talked over each other, making their words unhearable and sound like gibberish. At the forefront of the table was the council head, an older retired Jonin who quietly listened to the arguments before he struck his cane against the table.

"That's enough!" All of the councilmen quieted down and looked at him before they leaned back in their seats, knowing their arguments would have to wait "While we can argue all day about how or why the invasion failed, the truth of the matter is that this Naruto Uzumaki is now Konoha's Hokage."

"But sir, it could be-"

"It's not a fake. Not only is the signature authentic, but our spies reported that the new Hokage came as a surprise to the Jonin of Konoha and that the sannin Jiraiya has been seen frequently around the Hokage tower the past few days. Considering that our spies reported that this Uzumaki was reportedly training under the Sanin, I believe we can believe that he is indeed the Hokage."

The other councilmen looked at each other and scoffed as if they couldn't believe such a decision was reached.

"While that detail is important, what even more important is the surrender agreement and what our next course of action is." The head councilman placed the document on the table as he continued. "We must make a critical choice here...Do we accept the agreement and take our loss, or do we ignore it and launch a surprise attack on the shinobi who are escorting our own men back here? If we believe the new Hokage to be weak, now would be the time to strike; however, we must consider that he was made Hokage for a reason, and also consider that we currently do not have a Kage to call our own…"

Everyone on the council looked at each other and whispered, many opinions were already sprouting, as many thought that agreeing to surrender was the smart choice, while others wanted to launch a counter-attack while they thought Konoha was still weak.

However, one of the members only listened quietly, before he stood up in his seat, causing everyone to look at him when he spoke: "To continue waging war against Konoha is a fool's errand, I believe that we should accept the surrender agreement and move on."

While many on the council nodded, some of the others were less than pleased. "Surely you don't believe we will listen to the words of a man who was apart of the failed attack, or do you take us as fools as well Baki-san?"

"Might I remind you that I was the only one on the council who was against an invasion in the first place, along with teaming up with Orochimaru? Despite my protest, I still followed through with the mission until we were forced to retreat."

"Hmph, you're not helping your case, we're experiencing severe economic problems at the moment, and taking over Konoha was the only way to remedy that!"

"You're a fool if you believe that diplomacy is never an option and only war is the correct choice! Especially since the invasion failed, we're now potentially facing even more economic problems depending on what was agreed upon."

"About that…" The head councilmen spoke as everyone looked at him. "I believe it would be wise to read over the details of the agreement before continuing this bickering. After all, the only thing that we know was included was the prisoner swap, due to that being non-negotiable."

Everyone seemed to calm down as they all nodded and looked over the agreement that had been laid onto the table, many them was surprised to see the finer details, as it was completely different than the draft they had Kankuro and Temari present to the Hokage.

"What is this? They expect us to send them a weekly supply of food and water, while we're already short?"

"To be fair, they are offering to completely get rid of the tax-tariffs on their products, considering that in the past we have bought many scrolls and ingredients from them, I say this is a one in a lifetime opportunity."

"Oh please, even with that, we're still losing food and water! Don't they know our own people are starving!?" The councilmen started to argue with one another once again as Baki carefully looked over the agreement before he looked at the head councilmen who was staring at him, expecting an answer.

Baki sighed as he pounded on the table, getting all of the councilmen to quiet down and look at him. "To only focus on one aspect of the agreement will get us nowhere! Do remember that we were offering plenty of food and money upfront, yet the new Hokage has made it to where it will be over a few weeks instead, allowing us to find other ways to gain money and food."

"Baki-san! Even so, finding a way to acquire the resources will take months, not giving us the time to meet these demands! Unless of course, you have an alternative solution to the problem?"

Baki looked over at the councilman who spoke as he nodded "I understand that, and so I propose to Yuki a proposal."

The head councilman, now known as merely Yuki, looked at him "Baki-san, what is it?"

"I propose that we accept parts of the agreement, but request that we rework other parts such as the weekly supplies and monetary payments! I propose that we accept the prisoner exchange along with the training agreement."

The head councilmen nodded as he looked down at the agreement and sighed "While they may be willing to rework the trade agreement that was included, I worry about the monetary payments, mainly due to the fact they wish for us to pay builders they have requested so they assist in the repairs effort, that may be non negotiable, especially if the young, inexperienced Hokage has already sent for him."

"Then I propose a meeting with the new Hokage."

"A meeting?" Baki nodded as the entire council eyed him, no one making a sound as they waited for his explanation.

"While Temari and Kankuro did an admirable job with the surrender agreement, I believe it was a mistake not to have one of our councilmen accompany them since even though they signed the agreement, we still have to approve it. I propose we send a notice out to Konoha requesting a meeting between the Hokage and delegates from this very council to meet and approve a new surrender agreement."

"And who do we send!?" One of the councilmen jumped from their seat and looked Baki in the eyes as he yelled "Everyone here has a different idea on how to handle this agreement! To entrust that decision with just one of us will alienate everyone else!"

"The answer is obvious, we send the Head Councilman," Baki spoke as he looked over at the Head councilman as he didn't speak, awaiting a response from the one who had risen in objection.

"While that could work, I believe it would be better for the Hokage to come here and meet with the entire council, after all-"

"You're a fool!" Baki yelled out as the councilman quieted down "Do you really expect that Konoha would allow for their Hokage to come here right after we tried to invade them? Not only that, we are the ones surrendering, it would be inappropriate not to go to their village for the talks. Also when we voted for the Head Councilman, we did so knowing that he was in charge of the village in case of a vacancy of the Kazekage position, which currently we have one!"

The man didn't respond as he sat back in his seat, the entire council now quiet as they awaited the response for the head. "Baki-san...You are the one who discovered we were betrayed by Orochimaru when you discovered Kazekage-sama's body."

"Yes...That's correct…"

"And you were also the one who reported the incident to the council, which promptly made us surrender to Konoha."

"That is also correct."

"You could have acted on your own and attempted to hunt down Orochimaru on your own, however, because you decided to report to the council, you were able to convince the warmongering fools here that we needed to surrender." Some of the councilmen narrowed their eyes as he continued "Therefore, I believe that I can trust you on this one issue."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I will gladly evoke my temporarily powers and head off to Konoha and discuss the other fine details of the surrender agreement and see if we can reach some kind of compromise." Many on the council wanted to object, yet they knew they lacked the power to do so, as the only one who could overrule the head of the council was the Kazekage, who was no longer among the realm of the living.

"I see, shall I prepare a carrier pigeon?"

"Indeed, inform the Hokage that I shall accompany the Konoha Shinobi back to their village when they arrive here. Also, inform them that we agree to most of the agreement but wish for certain changes."

"Alright, will do." The head councilman nodded as he raised himself as he stuck his hand and spoke.

"This concludes the current meeting, you all are adjourned."

* * *

_2 days ago, Team Asuma_

"He's the one who told us to meet here in an hour…"

"Don't remind me, it's a drag but what else can we do…?"

"*Munch* It's a good thing I packed extra" Team Ten was sitting by the gate to the village, the guardsman looking at them in confusion as they awaited for Asuma to show up. It had been over two hours since he sent them off, even though he had told them to meet within just one hour of receiving the mission details.

"Oh, this sucks! Shikamaru, you should go try to find him!"

"Are you crazy? By the time I'll return he'll probably already be here, which would just delay the mission even more. Besides, it would be a real pain to search all over this village for him anyway. If you're so impatient, why don't you search for him?"

"Are you crazy? I wouldn't know where to look for him like you!"

"Well then quiet down, you're giving me a headache." As Shikamaru and Ino argued with each other, and Choji quietly ate his food, they were soon interrupted as Asuma could be seen walking towards them a smile.

"Sorry for being a little late guys had a few errands to run." Shikamaru and Ino both just glared at him which made him give a small laugh "Hey relax, relax, just making sure everything was in order before he left."

"Like what? Getting one last shot of drinks in?" Ino placed her hand on her hips and stared at Asuma who held his hands up as he laughed.

"Hey hey, nothing like that, just some personal things that's all." Shikamaru and Ino both kept their glares on him as he continued "Anyway, as you all know, our mission is in the Land Of Waves, where we are to escort a builder and his crew back to the village. It will be about a two-day trip, and there is a small chance we'll encounter some enemies, although we're more than likely safe until we acquire the builder."

The three of them nodded, though Shikamaru and Ino still looked less than pleased, though Shikamaru was slowly losing interest in being mad at him.

"Any questions?"

"Yeah actually…" Shikamaru spoke up as he placed his hands in his pockets and leaned against the gate "I know that the last time the Land Of Waves was involved in a mission, the missing-nin Zabuza and Haku were involved. While I know they were both killed, what are the chances we find other missing-nin?"

"That I can't answer, the only details are that mercenaries are after the head builder, whether or not it's missing-nin or run of the mill bandits is currently unknown. Of course, we will prepare as if it is missing-nin, just in case of a worst case scenario." Shikamaru nodded as it was Ino's turn to speak.

"Speaking of that mission, the ones who killed Zabuza and Haku was Team Seven right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"I see…" Ino seemed to think more a moment before sighing "Oh I bet Sasuke killed both of them and saved the day didn't he?"

Shikamaru sighed as even Choji seemed a little annoyed, yet Asuma shook his head "No, not even close, Zabuza was killed by Kakashi, while Haku was killed by...Naruto."

"Huh? Naruto-Kun?" Ino seemed surprised, to say the least as even Shikamaru and Choji raised an eyebrow. "A-Are you sure it wasn't sasuk-"

"Positive, only reason it wasn't made public was...Well...that's confidential." It was an obvious answer; it wasn't made public thanks to pressure from Jiraiya so to avoid the village believing Naruto was getting stronger. Of course, that plan went out the window during the invasion when it was known Naruto defeated Gaara, though to the surprise of many it seemed many of the villagers were grateful towards him.

"Confidential? Then why are you telling us sensei?" Ino tilted her head in confusion as Asuma stared her down.

"Because I get the feeling a lot of confidential stuff will be made public soon."

"Why's that?" Asuma just kept looking at her before he gave a sigh and began walking as he signaled for the gates to open.

"Let's go guys."

"H-Huh? But sensei…" Ino's words trailed off as the gates opened as Asuma began walking through them.

"Come on; time's a wasting after all! Don't want to be late!"

"Be late? You're the one who was late sensei!" Ino yelled out as she followed behind, along with Choji, yet Shikamaru kept his stare on Asuma as thoughts ran through his mind.

" _I wonder...That information that's been confidential but won't be for much longer, why is that? Not only that but Asuma-sensei seemed to imply it was all about Naruto...Hm...I wonder if the reason that district with Ichiraku was shut down yesterday was because…"  
_

"Hey Shikamaru, come on!" Shikamaru lost his train of thought as he looked up as Asuma was waving him over, as he just nodded.

" _Hm...If that is the case, then this is interesting if anything, it does make me worry about Sasuke though, especially when he finds out…"_ Shikamaru kept thinking to himself as he ran over to his team before they began their journey towards the Land of Waves, questions aplenty running through his head.

* * *

Team Ten continued on their journey; hours had passed since they left the village as not many words were said amongst each other. Ino was still wondering why the results of Team Seven was kept hidden, Asuma was hoping no more questions would be asked, and Choji was busy eating to keep his energy up.

However, Shikamaru was running through various situations in his head about a possible worst-case scenario with Sasuke, especially if his hypothesis was proven to be correct.

However as his thoughts ran through his head, he suddenly sensed something along with the rest of his team as they all stopped, Asuma taking the lead as he scanned over the area "Something's here…"

All of them stopped in place as they scanned the area, knowing an unknown chakra presence was nearby until…

"There!" Asuma yelled out as he threw a kunai at a tree branch below them, only for it to be slapped away by some invisible force. Asuma narrowed his eyes as he jumped to another tree branch below as Team Ten followed him "Show yourself!"

For a moment nothing happened, yet finally, on the branch in front of them, a ghostly figure began to come into view until eventually, they all could see it. The figure was dressed in old samurai wear, with its entire body wrapped in bandages, including all of its face. It wore an old straw hat with an unknown symbol on it.

The figure didn't move or say anything as it stared at them, nobody making a move. As seconds flew by, the figure raised it's hand and pointed at them, making the team prepare for a counter attack "Are you shinobi from Konoha?"

The figure had a deep ghostly voice, making all of them tense as Asuma replied: "Who's asking?"

"I believe it's proper to answer my question before asking any of your own...However, I suppose I shouldn't expect Ninja to know proper manners." The figure lowered it's hand as it turned fully towards them. "My name is Shisala, a samurai who has no home."

"Shisala?"

"Do you know who that is sensei?" Asuma looked back at Ino as he nodded.

"Yeah...He's a wanted criminal in several countries for assassinations."

"Come now…" Shisala talked in a displeased tone as if he felt disrespected "I am a mercenary by trade, nothing is wrong with my craft. In fact, I am no different than you ninja; the only real difference is that the politics of your village control you while I live a free life."

"We don't go around killing innocent people for money as you do, that's the difference between us." Shisala snorted as he walked across the branch to the base of the tree.

"Nobody in this world is truly innocent, we all have committed sins, and thus we all eventually die because of those sins. I'm just speeding the process up for many of them." Shisala reached inside his cloak and pulled out a piece of paper. "Judging by the way you're going, your heading towards the Land of Waves, aren't you?"

"I don't have to answer that."

"Of course...Then let me ask a different question, are you going there because of the bridge builder Tazuna?" Asuma tensed up which didn't go unnoticed by Shisala "I see...May I ask what business you have with him?"

"That's confidential."

"I see...Well whatever it is, I ask that you stay out of my way. I have my own business to take care of concerning him, and I don't need ninja like you getting in my way."

"So,you're one of the mercenaries out for his life?"

"Hmph, I should be the only mercenary that's left." Asuma raised an eyebrow as Shisala snapped his fingers, as suddenly the world around them shifted until…

"What!?" Suddenly all around them were the dead bodies of several men, many of them wanted criminals that Asuma recognized.

"These are all the men that have come searching for the bridge builder, and every single of them have been struck down by my sword, no matter how many allies they brought with them." Asuma clenched his teeth as he readied his weapons, as the rest of Team Ten did the same. "So...Even with this image you'll be willing to get in my way?"

"Hmph, we're ninja of Konoha who has been assigned a mission. We're not going to let some criminal stop us from accomplishing that."

"Your loyalty will be the end of you…"Shisala unsheathed his sword and aimed it at them, as immediately Asuma could feel it.

" _That sword has chakra embodied in it; I have to be careful around it."_ Everyone got into battle positions but before they could attack Shisala spoke back up.

"Hm...Four on one doesn't seem quite fair to me...Lets even things up." Shisala took his sword as it began to glow blue as he seemingly cut a symbol into the air before cutting right through it as suddenly three copies of him appeared beside him.

"What?" All of Team Ten couldn't believe what they saw, but they couldn't worry about the believability of it, as now the tides were even. "He can form symbols with his sword and then activate them with it? I've never seen anything like it."

"Heh, prepare to witness why I have cut down everyone who has come across my path!"

Asuma began channeling his chakra as he kept his eyes trained "Alright guys, let's go!"

* * *

_Team Guy/Kurenai_

"Now then...Guy, unless you have any questions you can return to your team while I see what Kurenai needs." Guy nodded as he patted Kurenai on the back and left the room, entering into the empty hallway.

As soon as he had shut the door, Guy let out a sigh as he began walking, conflicted emotions welling up inside of him. While he would never disobey an order from the Hokage, he was still a bit on edge about guarding two Suna shinobi, especially since it hadn't been that long since the attack on the village.

As he walked through the building, he noticed Jiraiya walking up the stairs as he gave a wave "Ah Jiraiya-sama! Still keeping up with your personal training?"

Guy gave a big grin, though Jiraiya didn't seem in the mood to talk as he kept his downward cast and walked on by not responding, making Guy raise an eyebrow.

"Hm, must not be in the mood to share…" Guy kept walking downward until he reached the door and walked out, the silence incredibly noticeable as the two teams stayed on opposite sides of each other, with Kiba trying to encourage Hinata and Lee having resumed his pushups from earlier.

As soon as Guy walked through the gates, Lee stopped as he got back on his feet and straightened out "Guy-sensei! Have we received an incredible mission!?"

"Lee! You have to understand that every mission, no matter how small or big, is always incredible! Do you understand!?"

"Ah! Yes, I completely understand Guy-sensei!" Everyone just sighed as Guy went to pull the mission scroll out when that was interrupted.

"Isn't that the Hokage?" Everyone looked up after Tenten spoke and indeed, they noticed the Hokage was looking down at them through the windows, though they also immediately noticed that he seemed to be invisible, with only the outfit being present.

Everyone kept staring at him as Guy instinctively saluted, which Lee did the same as soon as he saw Guy doing it. After a moment, the Hokage turned back towards the center of the room and walked back, vanishing from view.

After a moment, everybody seemed to come back into reality as they all looked at each other, with Kiba being the first to talk "So that's the new Hokage huh? Seems pretty small if you ask me."

Tenten looked at him as she spoke "Isn't it obvious? That's apart of the genjutsu they're using, I hope you realized there was some since he was invisible."

"Hey I'm not stupid, I know that we don't have an invisible Hokage." Guy stopped saluting as he seemed a little relieved that the two sides were now talking to each other, even if only a little bit as he internally laughed.

" _Heh, the kids pretty smart if he did that to help break the ice…"_ As the conversation began to actually begin the two sides, they were interrupted as Kurenai came out of the building towards them.

"Sorry I'm late; I had to ask the Hokage something." When Hinata looked at Kurenai, she just replied with a look that said sorry, making Hinata realize that she couldn't meet with him as she gave a downwards look and nodded. "Anyway, has Guy explained the mission?"

"Ah not yet, I was waiting for you to arrive in case you have anything to add. Alright, everyone line up!"

"That goes for my team as well, line up beside Guy's team!" Everyone nodded as they quickly got in line with each other, with Neji on one end and Hinata on the other.

"Alright listen up! Our mission is a prisoner exchange with the village of Sunagakure! We are to escort their delegates sent here to discuss surrender agreements, along with their prisoners, back to their village! Afterward, we are to escort our own villagers they have taken over the years back here as well! Any questions?"

"Ah, Guy-sensei!"

"Yes, Lee! What is it?"

"While I'm not questioning you or the Hokage, I do worry about whether or not we can trust Suna at this moment. They did just launch an attack against our village, so I believe it would be too risky to walk into their village and return their prisoners." Guy nodded but didn't waver as he spoke.

"While I understand your concerns, Hokage-sama seems to trust that they are fully committed to the surrender agreement, and In a way, I can understand. If they were to kill us or take us prisoner, then they would be trying to continue a war without their own Kage, which could cause problems internally for them. It's better for them to surrender now, and not try to continue the conflict."

"Ah! Of course Guy-sensei! I apologize for asking!"

"Never apologize Lee! The only stupid question is one that isn't asked; remember that!"

"Yes, Guy-sensei!" Though Lee seemed to be convinced easily, the others weren't so much.

"It almost seems like the new Hokage might be throwing us out to be dinner…" Tenten quietly spoke to herself as Neji replied.

"I agree; it's shortsighted of him to assume Suna is wholehearted with their surrender." Kiba was the next to speak as looked at Guy's team.

"Ah come on guys, have more faith than that! I'm sure our new Hokage has a good plan in case anything goes wrong, right Shino?"

"...It depends…"

"Huh? Depends on what?"

"...Depends on if he has learned anything since then."

"Huh? Learned anything since then? You talk as if you know who he is!"

"..." Shino didn't say anymore as Hinata kept quiet, not wanting to get into the arguments as Guy cleared his throat, regaining everyone's attention.

"We are to go and grab the delegates before heading to the gate, where the prisoners will be waiting for us." Guy had opened the mission scroll and read the instructions out loud as everyone listened. "They are currently being held at a nearby Inn! While the details don't say anything about it, I believe it would be best for one team to grab the Delegates while the other goes ahead and makes sure the prisoners are ready, what do you think Kurenai?"

"Yes, I believe that works just fine." Guy nodded as he folded the scroll up and placed it in his vest.

"Alright! Team Guy will go make sure the prisoners are under control while Team Eight will handle the delegates, any questions?" After no one said anything, Guy got a big grin as he held out a thumbs up "Alright! Let's get this mission started!"

* * *

_Temari and Kankuro_

It had been several hours since Kankuro and Temari had left the Hokage tower, and the entire time since then, they had barely spoken a word to each other. The same thoughts were running through their minds…

Why...Why did the brat who defeated Gaara have mercy on them? For their entire life, they grew up in a world where the weak ones die, and strong survive, yet here they were shown mercy. It just didn't make any sense whatsoever.

Temari was perhaps the most confused, she was already shown mercy once in the Chunin Exams, and now she was shown mercy yet again. She didn't know how or why they lost to such a soft village, but she hated it...She hated that they took pity on her and Kankuro, as if they were weak, despite training their entire lives.

That anger swelled up in her stomach as she gritted her teeth and gripped the curtain she was standing by, the village outside seemingly taunting her as they went about their everyday lives. Yet after a moment she just sighed as she turned around and looked at Kankuro who was staring at her. "Any word?"

Kankuro nodded as he walked over to her and handed her a scroll "Yeah, one of the ANBU agents just gave this to me. Apparently, it has information on the ones escorting us and the like."

"Tch, like we need an escort." Temari didn't like the idea of being protected, but she couldn't do anything about it but accept it, which just made her even angrier, though a lot of that anger was directed at herself.

"Still, that is what we agreed to. Though I honestly think the main reason they are sending an escort is for their own prisoners that they will be returning back here."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it, but...I guess I'll have to accept it, for now, he did, after all, beat Gaara and offer us mercy. Speaking of, how is he?"

"You mean Gaara? From what I heard he's still resting back in the village, though apparently he's been acting differently around the other medical-nin."

"Hm? How so?"

"It's hard to describe, but from what I understand he isn't threatening them and is pretty noncommittal so far, not really talking and the like."

"Hm, that doesn't sound like him at all; that's a bit worrisome." Kankuro nodded as they both let out a sigh, however immediately after a knock was heard on the door before it opened to reveal an ANBU agent.

"Your escort is here."

"Tch that fast? I didn't get to read over the info on them, brats not giving us a lot of time." Temari narrowed her eyes as she spoke before walking past Kankuro and over to the agent before stopping. "Kankuro, go ahead and send off the surrender agreement to the village. I'm sure that damn council will want to change a few things."

"Don't worry, already took care of it." Temari nodded as she began walking forward.

"Then let's go." Kankuro followed suit as they followed the agent out of the building, with only one train of thought running through her head " _What is that brats end game?"_

* * *

_Unknown Location_

The hallway was dark and quiet, the source of light being the torches at the very entrance and nothing else as the long dark corridor extended into the abyss of nothing, a feeling of dread would fill anyone who entered into the space.

Yet that illusion was quickly broken when the sound of tapping could be heard, the sound of wood hitting the floor as a dark figure began to emerge from the darkness, flanked by two different ANBU agents on both sides of him.

He quietly walked through the hallway, the sound of his cane making his presence known until he stopped right in front of a door as one of the ANBU agents opened it as he walked inside.

The room was filled with several ANBU agents as they all kneeled towards him when he walked in, the ANBU that were already with him joining the others in kneeling as he walked through the space in the middle before he reached a chair as he sat down and looked over the agents before he finally spoke "As many of you know, a new Hokage has been decided upon. His name is Naruto Uzumaki, the one who holds the Kyuubi inside of him."

None of the agents responded as he kept his gaze on all of them as he continued "This is both a gift and a curse. With the Kyuubi now in control of our village, enemies from all over will seek us out to take that power for themselves, especially Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, putting ourselves even more in danger than we already are."

"Yet this is a gift as well; the new Hokage is young and such will need to be guided towards a brighter future, a future where Konoha will rule the Ninja World and stand on top of the bodies of our enemies. I shall be the one to guide him, as he will enact the vision I have for this village! Should he try to usurp me from doing so of course, then with him being the Jinchuriki, then it will be easy to dispose of him, and therefore install myself as the Sixth Hokage!"

"I will need all of you for this endeavor, however, though I hope it doesn't come to a coup, as many great lives will be a loss as our enemies will see an opening and strike! However blood is necessary for the future of the world, and everyone here knows this all to well, as many of you have had to make sacrifices for this great village."

"If there is anyone here who objects to this initiative speak now!" After silence followed suit, the man smiled as he tapped his cane "Then let us begin, let us lead this village into the future! Let us rule the Ninja World!"

All the ANBU nodded as they all sang out "Of course! We shall continue to follow you, Danzo-sama sir!"


	7. Konoha Recovery Arc I: Team Ten's Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Ten has to go to the Wave Country to help the Bridge Builders get back to Konoha to help in the repair effort. However, they first must take out the mysterious Shisala.

Four against four, the mysterious samurai known as Shisala against Asuma, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji. Asuma looked over the four clones, noticing how they each stood the exact same, not showing any apparent strengths or weaknesses.

Neither side moved until Asuma held his hand out and gave a signal.

Immediately his team all jumped in different directions, the four variations of Shisala doing the same, each one heading to a different team member. "Keep your eyes open and search for a weakness on him!"

Asuma yelled out to the team as they all nodded, each one going to different parts of the forest to fight as Asuma continued forward to the original Shisala, who just watched him as he spoke: "Hmph, a ninja has no chance if he fights blindly."

Immediately afterward, Shisala's sword glowed as chakra ran through it as he swung forward, clashing with Asuma's kunai as the two began attacking one another, each steal hitting each other over and over again, neither gaining ground.

However, as they swung at each other over and over again, Asuma couldn't help but feel fatigue, becoming more so with each hit of his kunai against the sword, until eventually the sword powered through and slashed his arm, cutting it open as he jumped back.

"What's wrong, have you already conceded defeat?" Shisala taunted him as Asuma held his arm, trying to stop the blood coming out of it.

"That sword, the chakra in it saps my strength, doesn't it?"

"Very perceptive of you, each time you clash with my sword, more and more of your chakra is sapped from your body and absorbed into my sword. Each cut by the sword saps even more chakra from the body part is connected with, meaning your arm should barely feel moveable."

Asuma gritted his teeth as he heard this, his arm barely moving as it limped beside his body, causing Shisala to let out a chuckle. "The mercenaries who came through here put up a better fight than you, I hope that this is just a farce. Though without the use of your arm, you can't use any jutsu, can you?"

"If you think I wasn't trained for situations like this, then your mistaken!" Asuma reached inside his vest and pulled out one of his trench knives as he applied Chakra to it.

"Hmph, a poor man's imitation of a samurai." Shisala mocked Asuma as he began walking forward raising his sword for another attack "Only the samurai can correctly infu-Agh!"

Before he could attack, Shisala backed up some as he suddenly held his hand, a large gash across it as Asuma looked on with a grin, his own knife raised. "What? Are you scared all of a sudden?"

"How did you...The knife! How did you attack me from there with it!?" Shisala yelled out as Asuma chuckled as he pushed himself up, still holding the knife in his hand.

"I figured you had some trick up your sleeve, which is why I attacked you with my regular kunai at first, wanting to get a feel for your style. However, once you sapped the strength from my arm, it was too late to switch weapons in it. Luckily, I'm adept at fighting with both hands; that's how I hit you."

"But how?"

"If you can't figure that out, then you can't call yourself a samurai." Asuma again raised his hand as Shisala took another step back, another cut forming on him as it appeared on his arm, making a jump back to re-evaluate the situation.

"So that blade is the reason huh? Fine then, don't think I have to be right beside you to fight!" Shisala took his sword as he infused more chakra with it, as he swung forward, the size of the sword expanding at high speed, causing Asuma to quickly block it with his own knife, sapping more chakra from him as he jumped back. "Haha, fight long range if you want, it doesn't change the fact I will continue to sap your strength."

Asuma narrowed his eyes as he brought his hand up to his face as he then blew out a cloud of soot, as it enveloped the area, including Shisala.

"Smokescreen huh? I don't see-" Before he could finish, Shisala noticed his open wounds burning, and soon enough they were burning extremely bad as his covered body began to sweat, causing him to jump backward, his wounds being burnt so bad that the skin had melted back over them. "Agh.."

Shisala looked up as the soot began to thin out, showing that Asuma was no longer where he originally was.

"Damn it, where did he go?" Shisala looked around until Asuma appeared from above, causing Shisala to raise his blade and block the attack, though immediately he noticed Asuma smile before vanishing as another Asuma appeared behind him. "A clone?!"

Before he could react, Asuma slashed across his back, causing him to stumble forward as he jumped to another limb, a large gash on his back. "Now I'm starting to wonder how weak those other guys were if you took them out as easily as you said you did."

Shisala kept breathing hard, not replying until he raised his sword in the air as it began to glow with chakra, and almost immediately his wounds began to heal making Asuma narrow his eyes.

"What!?"

"Hehe, for what I may lack in physical skill, I make up in endurance. I am unkillable thanks to my clones, each time they sap chakra away from your team, I can call upon that chakra to heal myself, and it seemed like they had quite a bit of chakra saved up for me."

"What? Dammit!"

"So little ninja, as I said, you cannot kill me if you fight blindly. My clones can also call upon each other for chakra, healing their wounds and continuing on the cycle. We also will never run out, considering we replenish each time we connect to our enemy."

Shisala laughed as he spoke, making Asuma grit his teeth as his mind raced to the others.

" _Choji, Ino, Shikamaru...You guys need to win without making contact...Meaning we're the worst team for this guy…"_

"Now, are you ready for round two?"

"Well, here goes nothing I guess." Asuma readied himself, hoping and praying his team could somehow cut off his reserves.

* * *

_Ino_

Ino breathed heavily as she looked at her opponent, the samurai showing no emotion as he quickly took each of her attacks head-on, making her feel weaker and weaker each time their blades connected to one another.

She didn't know why though, she was only testing him to see if he would initially show any strengths and weaknesses but instead it just made her arm feel weak.

"Oh? Feeling tired little girl?" Shisala mocked her as he stayed still, not moving from his spot despite the repeated attacks from Ino, which frustrated her. She knew she had to take it easy and not rush things, but the frustration was quickly taking over her body. "In that case, I guess it's my turn."

Not giving her a moment to rest, Shisala suddenly jumped into the air as he swung his sword, causing a sharp wind to blow at Ino, making her jump back. However, the wind was fast enough to hit the side of her leg, causing a slash mark to appear as blood quickly ran out, causing her to grab it when she landed.

"If you can't dodge a simple wind attack, then you have no right to call yourself a ninja!" Shisala again slashed his sword as more wind rang out towards her, destroying the tree branches along the way as she jumped once again; however, she was able to avoid it this time, which didn't go unnoticed by her.

" _It was slower that time! But why?"_ Ino landed on another branch as Shisala landed on one higher than her, his sword by his side as he looked like he had exhausted no energy whatsoever. " _I need to find out about that sword of his, and he's practically begging for me to attack him so he can counter."  
_

Not wasting any time, Ino immediately closed her eyes and locked onto Shisala as she began to sense his chakra, and she immediately sensed the sword.

" _His sword has Chaka infused in it, yet it's not unlimited! Also unlike the original, this clone doesn't have any chakra itself somehow, meaning all of its power comes from that sword. But why is he...Wait!"_ Ino immediately stopped focusing on the sword and then began focusing on herself _"That's it! He's stealing my chakra! That must be why he's not acting now and why the second wind strike was slower than the first because he needs me to attack him!"  
_

Ino opened her eyes and readied herself, as Shisala kept his unmoving position "Are you done praying little girl? Because sadly for you, no god of yours can help you now."

Ino didn't say anything as she reached down for her belt and dug out a shuriken as she immediately threw it at Shisala who easily deflected it away, yet right after she checked herself and the sword and noticed one thing _"So that didn't take any of my chakra away. Meaning only direct contact with things in my hand huh? In that case…"_

Right after she threw two more shurikens his way and immediately followed them as Shisala easily knocked the two shurikens out of the way as Ino struck again with her kunai "Hmph, child's play."

Ino just smirked at the comment as she suddenly pulled her hand back some before throwing the kunai, making Shisala jerk some as he raised his sword to block the incoming kunai, yet this allowed Ino to take a kunai in her other hand and thrust it forward, stabbing Shisala in the arm.

"Agh! What?" Shisala swung down at her, yet she grabbed the tree branch to propel herself down towards a lower one as Shisala's sword struck the branch, allowing Ino to get to safety as blood trickled down his arm "Tch, bitch."

"Heh, as long as you don't connect to me, you won't be able to regain your chakra, so some illusion and long distance attacks will do huh?"

"Very perceptive of you, many foes who stand before me never realize why they lose in the end, yet you seem to be one who will at least know why she's now six feet under!" Shisala extended his sword as it began to grow in length towards Ino at a very high rate of speed, causing her to jump as it crashed into the tree.

Yet that wasn't the end as immediately Shisala aimed the sword upwards as more slices of wind came upward, causing Ino to block as they hit her directly and threw her against another tree immediately after Shisala returned his sword to normal as he flew at her, ready to strike and steal her chakra.

Shisala struck forward and impaled Ino right in the shoulder as blood trickled down the sword and the right side of her chest, yet immediately he knew something was wrong "What's this? Why am I not refueling?"

As soon as he spoke, a nut hit him in the back of his head as he turned around and saw a squirrel looking at him as he growled.

"Damn rodent!" Shisala flung his sword forward to slash at it...But...Nothing happened. His eyes went wide as his sword didn't change or attack "What? But I should still have Chakra! Why is no-AGH!"

During his disbelief, the squirrel suddenly put it's tiny paws together and immediately after, he felt a cut across the back of his neck as Ino slashed at it with a smirk "You didn't think I was dead did you?"

"W-What...H-How?"

"My Mind Transfer Jutsu is pretty handy, allowing me quite a few opportunities to escape! Such as taking over a small animal to distract you before dealing the final blow!" Shisala went wide-eyed as he coughed hard, blood pouring down his back as he fell and hit the ground below as Ino followed, landing right beside him.

"N-No...W-Why was my chakra g-gone?...D-Did one of us need to heal?" Ino didn't know what he was talking about, yet she didn't care as she saw him try to raise his sword, making her take her kunai and slash his hand off as he screamed. "No! N-Not like this!"

The sword and hand fell to the ground as Shisala went limp, and soon after a blue flame enveloped his body and sword before vanishing, leaving nothing behind.

Though injured, Ino just quickly applied temporarily bandages to her wounds as she looked out to the forest "Alright, time to go help the others!"

* * *

_Shikamaru_

The two opponents quietly looked at each other, neither one making any moves since they had left the others, each one studying one another and preparing for an attack or counterattack.

The only sound that could be heard was the wind blowing through the trees; not even the insects seemed all that interested in coming out to play today.

Finally, the silence was broken by a small chuckle as the samurai Shisala spoke: "You have some degree of intelligence for not immediately attacking me, which is a rare quality I often never see in my opponents."

"Hmph, honestly it's too much of a drag to go blow for blow with you, so I decided the best course of action was to wait it out."

"A drag huh? Who knew that the sin known as laziness could be considered an asset, in a fight no less...You truly are one of a kind, though whether or not I would consider that a good quality or not is debatable." Shisala moved his sword up, the sun gleaming down on it "It would be rather easy to end you right now, my sword is fast enough that you wouldn't be able to escape its reach."

"Then why don't you do it? I find it rather odd that you've been waiting for me to attack you this entire time, usually, if you see an opening, you wouldn't wait for your opponent to strike."

"Consider it a compliment to your abilities, and I'm simply taking a cautious approach."

"For someone who ridicules ninja's so much, you don't seem like someone who would take a cautious approach with us. I think the real truth is that you need me to attack you, but I'm not sure the reason, but I guess it has to do with the fact that if I don't, you can't use your sword, right?"

Shisala went quiet for a moment before a small chuckle came out "Fine, don't take my compliment; I'll simply come to you and get what I need the hard way."

Shisala raised his sword as he jumped towards Shikamaru, who didn't move as he came closer and closer until he was just inches from Shikamaru's face as he swung down.

"Gotcha!" Shisala quietly said to himself as he slashed Shikamaru in the head, yet instead of being sliced in half, Shikamaru just poofed into a cloud of smoke "What? A shadow clone?"

However what was even more disturbing to Shisala was that a small piece of paper that looked like a tag came out of the clone, the end burning off. He immediately realized what it was as he tried to shield himself when…

_**Boom!** _

A massive explosion was heard from the tag as Shisala was thrown back forcefully into one of the tree trunks, parts of his body on fire from the blast as immediately he felt his bones hurting and aching.

He soon fell off of the tree as he grabbed a limb and pulled himself up onto it, his cloak being covered in soot as he was breathing heavily. "Damn brat."

Shisala raised his sword, and soon it began to glow as he started to absorb the chakra from one of the other clones, healing himself in the process.

" _Well, whoever I'm taking from has quite a bit stored up already. We can't take from the host body, so we're screwed if all of the clones run out of chakra."_ As Shisala slowly healed himself with the chakra from one of the clones, he looked around, trying to find where Shikamaru was " _Where the hell did that brat go?"_

He stayed where he was until he got enough strength back, lowering the sword as he kept some in it for an attack, so he could force Shikamaru into fighting him. He slowly stood back up cautious, now knowing full well not to underestimate Shikamaru.

"Damn it, did he run away?"

"I'm not much for running personally." Shisala looked behind him as he saw Shikamaru leaning against a tree, the same bored expression from earlier "I'd rather fight than run if I'm honest."

"Hmph, you still don't appear to be taking this fight all that seriously; you are the very definition of a ninja who doesn't know his place."

"Well, getting all worked up is what you wanted isn't it? You take your opponents down by counter-attacking them and wearing them down, and in the process, you somehow grow stronger and can then start using your sword techniques, correct?"

"You sound more like you belong in a classroom than on a battlefield kid, I've fought my entire life and having that attitude of yours will quickly get you killed."

"A classroom? Please, I use that place as a bed pretty much. I'd much rather be out here on the battlefield, kicking the ass of idiots like you who think they can win by sheer force alone."

Shisala gritted his teeth as he raised his sword "You're going to kick my ass? Let's see about that k-huh?"

Shisala tried to take a step forward, yet he couldn't. He tried to raise his sword, but he couldn't do that either, all he could do was stand still and not move a single muscle.

"What? What's going on?" Shisala tried to move but other than some rumbling around, he couldn't, his body rejecting every command his brain tried to give out. He looked over at Shikamaru and went wide-eyed as he saw that Shikamaru's hands were together and that his shadow had actually extended out and locked onto his "What!?"

"My Shadow Imitation Jutsu allows me to take control over anybody or anything that I want, as long as I have sunlight and a host to connect it with. You were busy regaining your strength, so I quickly used the jutsu to lock you in place. It also helped that you were willing to talk while I did so."

"You brat! Let go of me at once!"

"Heh, sure, after I take care of you."

"What?" Shisala didn't know what he meant, but immediately his heart sank as Shikamaru began moving his body, while Shisala's own body started doing the exact same movements. "What is this?"

Shikamaru didn't say anything as he moved his hand to belt in a clutching motion and held it up, which Shisala's body imitated, and the side that happened to be facing up had the sword in it, meaning the sword was right below Shisala's mouth. "Any last words?"

"You brat! Do you really think you're going to be able to kill me wi-"

_**Scrunch!** _

The sound of flesh being penetrated could be heard as Shikamaru raised his hand quickly, causing Shisala's body to do the same as it thrust the sword through the bottom of his mouth and out of his head, as Shikamaru released his technique as the body he was possessing fell over backward, and vanished in a blue flame, leaving Shikamaru all to himself.

Shikamaru sighed, not having any injuries at all as he looked out "Well, I need to regroup with everyone now."

* * *

_Choji_

The sound of falling trees and the earth being crushed radiated throughout a section of the forest, where Choji and Shisala were doing battle with one another.

Choji repeatedly attacked, enlarging his body parts as he attacked and attacked, not slowing down as Shisala was always on the move, occasionally blocking to steal some of Choji's chakra, yet he never had a chance to catch his breath.

Shisala's plan was simple, just have Choji keep attacking and continue to steal his chakra to wear him down eventually, it was the plan he had used for every opponent so far, so why should he change for one little ninja?

Yet despite the battle dragging out, Choji showed no signs of slowing down, never letting up on his attacks which didn't give Shisala a chance to counter-attack and defeat Choji. He was able to store plenty of chakra in case it was called upon, yet he was getting slightly annoyed at not being given a chance to counterattack.

"You keep attacking me, yet you're only hurting yourself! I don't see how this is beneficial for you!"

"Hurting myself huh? Says the guy who's dodging and blocking each of my attacks!" Choji kept his attacks up, causing Shisala to stay on the defensive as he jumped backward.

" _I need to create distance to strike him with my sword!"_ Shisala jumped backward again as Choji jumped and attacked downwards with his hands as he kept moving trying to create room " _Thanks to that kid's persistence, I have plenty of chakra, I wonder if I have enough for…?"  
_

Shisala inwardly checked his chakra as he noticed something.

" _I see, one of us needed to heal did they? If I had to bet, it was the host who was fighting against the leader of this team. Well because of him I need some more chakra for my attack, the one fighting that little girl shouldn't need too much."_

Shisala raised his sword as it began to glow, absorbing the chakra from the one fighting Ino as he turned towards a charging Choji. "Take this! Human Boulder!"

Choji's body suddenly turned into a human wrecking ball as it barreled towards Shisala, who just chuckled as he raised his sword "As if that will work! Samurai Slash!"

Suddenly, his sword glowed a deep blue as he channeled all of the Chakra in it as he threw towards where Choji was rolling, a massive ball of chakra heading straight towards Choji, still in his ball form.

"Now die, little ninja!" Shisala laughed as he watched his attack heads straight towards Choji, waiting for the impact when…

"Boulders can bounce you know!" Shisala heard Choji cry out as he suddenly jumped over the huge ball as he headed straight towards Shisala, who went wide-eyed at the display as he was forced to drop back, yet he wasn't fast enough as Choji hit him directly, sending the samurai flying back as he crashed into a tree.

"Agh! W-What?" Shisala struggled to pull himself up as he looked where Choji had impacted, a huge mess of branches and holes now in his place " _How was he able to dodge!? The Chakra ball should have been large enough not to be avoidable."  
_

Suddenly Shisala heard walking in front of him, as he saw Choji walking towards him, twigs and dirt all over him as he glared at the samurai "Had enough?"

"Pft, like a little ball is going to be enough to stop me!" Choji just gave a small smile as he scanned over Shisala's body.

"Are you sure about that?"

"What do you mean brat?" Choji just pointed at Shisala's body, causing him to look down and go wide-eyed. "W-What…?"

Covering his entire body was nothing but shurikens, blood leaking down to the ground like it was nothing as his body began to shake, his vision fading. "When I hit the ground, I immediately unrolled and threw shurikens at you when you flew away. I knew you were easily countering my physical attacks, so I thought I would mix it up a bit!"

"Y-You…" Shisala coughed as he fell to his knees, blood soaking through his outfit as his body began to fade until a blue flame enveloped it, and soon nothing was left.

Choji's smile faded as he looked back out towards the forest "Alright, I'm coming sensei!"

* * *

_Asuma_

Asuma looked at Shisala cautiously, already he was weak in one of his arms thanks to his carelessness, and he wasn't about to make the same mistake twice. His main concern was the sword that Shisala carried with him, allowing him to share chakra with his clones and also absorb the opponent's chakra.

As Asuma sized up and looked for an opening, Shisala just shook his head "I must admit, you have survived longer than anybody else who has come face to face with me, for that, I give you much credit!"

"Hmph, I'll also be the one to end you."

"As if you could little ninja." Shisala slashed with his sword, causing a chakra wave to quickly come and strike at Asuma as he jumped up to avoid it, but Shisala quickly unleashed another one, making Asuma block it with his knife, which sent him backward from the impact "Impressive, but not surprising."

" _I should be able to slice right through his sword, but the question is should I risk it? If I don't slice through, then he'll just steal more of my chakra."_ Shaking his head as he saw Shisala coming towards him, Asuma made his move.

Taking his own chakra embed knife, Asuma shot forward as he sliced forward at the sword Shisala was holding, cutting right through it.

Shisala let out a small gasp as he shot back with the broken sword, before holding the two pieces close together as the chakra melded it back together. " _So I can cut through it, but he'll just meld it back with chakra it seems. Still, that is good to know; I might be able to break through with a combo move."  
_

Asuma shot forward once again as he sliced at the sword, once again cutting it on half, but he kept going as he sliced forward again, cutting Shisala's hat as he continued to back up.

Trying to shake Asuma off of him, he pushed the broken sword forward, making Asuma stop his attack to dodge it as Shisala molded the swords back together again with his chakra. 'Hmph! So that's how you want to play huh? I'll make a little ninja like you regret trying something so foolish!"

" _Something's not right, and all the records show that Shisala has a very respected way of speaking and never underestimates his opponents or plays around with them. So why is he doing that exact thing right now?"_ However, Asuma couldn't think about this for long as Shisala turned his sword downwards as Chakra began to gather at the tip, and before Asuma knew it, Shisala flung his sword up and threw the chakra energy as Asuma, causing him to barely dodge it as it exploded the tree branch he was on.

"Dodge all you want, I have plenty of chakra to attack you with, my clones will make sure of that!"

"Are you sure about that?" All of a sudden, a third voice joined the conversation, and when Shisala and Asuma looked towards the sound of the voice, they were both surprised by who they saw.

"Shikamaru?" Asuma yelled out to the newly joined Shikamaru, who was watching the fight from an adjacent tree.

"Sensei! I've come to help!" Shikamaru yelled back out to Asuma who nodded.

"Good; this guy has been a pain so far!" Asuma looked back at Shisala, who was glaring intently at Shikamaru.

"You! My clone should have dealt with you!" Shikamaru gave a grin to Shisala's words before just shrugging.

"Your clone? He was a drag sure...But he wasn't the hardest thing I've ever fought against."

"What did you say!? Agh, no matter! Once my other clones take care of the others, I'll have the advantage again!" However, as soon as he spoke, a fourth figure showed up beside Shikamaru.

"I'm here sensei! I made sure to eat on my way over!"

"Choji, you made it as well!" Asuma smiled as he yelled out to the newly arrived Choji, who gave a smile and a nod.

Shisala, on the other hand, gripped his sword tighter "Impossible, for two of my clones to lose...What about the girl…?"

"The girl is right here!" A fifth figure emerged from the other side as Ino appeared, giving a smile to everyone "Well looks like the only one left is the one Asuma-sensei is fighting, huh?"

"A-All of my clones were defeated!? That's impossible! We're unbeatable with my technique!"

"Nobody's unbeatable." Asuma said this as he eyed Shisala directly, raising his chakra knife "Especially when you have a strong bond like my team does!"

"No...I defeated teams before! Take thi- What!?" Shisala tried to move, but couldn't as his entire body felt stiff "W-What is this?"

"Man you're just like your clone…" Shisala looked over at the sound of the voice to see that it was Shikamaru "You don't even notice basic jutsu."

"Basic jutsu?" Shisala looked down as he gasped, Shikamaru's shadow connecting to his "What is this!? Answer me!"

"Man what a drag, I've already explained it to your clone, I really don't feel like explaining it again."

"What!?"

"Good job Shikamaru!" Asuma smiled as he spoke as he headed directly for Shisala, his knife raised "Now, I'm going to end this!"

Shisala just watched in horror as death got closer and closer, one thought running through his mind " _But I copied him perf-"_

Before the thought could finish, a scrunching sound was heard as Asuma cut right through his neck as his head went flying into the air before it fell to the ground, as his body soon followed.

"Wait here! I'm going to inspect the body." Everybody nodded as Asuma jumped down to the dead body of Shisala.

As soon as he landed, he looked over the body and felt for any pulse or sense of life, but nothing was felt, not even the glimpse of a beating heart.

Asuma gave a relieved sigh as he pulled out a scroll and opened it up before taking the bandages off of one of Shisala's hands as he dipped the fingertips in ink and placed them on the scroll, marking them. " _There, now I can see if you are the real deal."_

Rolling the scroll back up and placing it in his vest, Asuma took the hands and placed them over Shisala's heart, before taking the sword and piercing through the hands and chest.

" _Even still, a Samurai deserves a samurai burial."_ After making sure nothing of importance was left behind, Asuma jumped back up into the trees with the rest of Team Ten, and after offering good jobs and congratulations, the team set forth back on their destination.

However, just minutes after the team left, two cloaked figures emerged from the trees near Shisala's body "Well that was a letdown, I was expecting a serious fight, not some ninja beating down on a samurai!"

"It couldn't be helped; this was merely an imposter of the real one. Though he copied the technique and sword, he couldn't match the experience, mindset, and skill of the original."

"Oh? How do you know it's an imposter?"

"Easy, because I killed the real one already. However, before I could add his body to my collection, he blew himself up. Lucky for me, it seems that someone was copying his trade to take his place."

"Oh? So master, are you going to be taking the body?"

"Of course, he knows the skills and that sword can absorb chakra. He'll make a perfect addition to my puppet collection."

* * *

"What? You beat him without taking a hit Shikamaru!?" Ino yelled out to Shikamaru who just shrugged his shoulders, as he leaned back against a tree.

"It's not like he was all that tough or anything; he just liked to talk a lot, that's all."

"That's all!? I was lucky he was dumb enough to be distracted during battle; otherwise, I would have really gotten hurt!"

"Well, I also matched up well against him, so…" As Shikamaru and Ino talked, Choji was just listening to the conversation with a bag of his favorite snacks in his hands, the fight from earlier making him pretty hungry as the group sat around a fire as darkness had descended upon them.

Asuma just watched the trio from a little ways away, his cigarette back in his mouth as the events of that day ran through his head. " _He fought over confidently, he underestimated us, and he only relied on one style to fight. That's a complete contrast from his wanted profile, where it said he had many styles, never took anything for granted and never underestimated any opponent."  
_

Asuma closed his eyes in thought, the possibility that they had fought a fraud becoming more and more likely, yet despite being a fraud, their opponent still was able to master the skills that the real Shisala may possess.

" _That sword, in particular, the way he was able to absorb chakra with it. It's a sword I've seen around the Iron Country, yet It's impressive he was able to smuggle one out."_ Asuma sighed as his cigarette lightly burned as it slowly fell to the ground, bit by bit. _"Well regardless, we'll have some answers when we get back and present the prints to the forensic team and the Hokage."_

That last word made him open his eyes as they landed on Shikamaru.

Hokage.

The words that Naruto gave Asuma still lingered in his head.

_The Retired Ninja Council Has already recommended Shikamaru for the rank of Chunin_

If Naruto followed up on the recommendation and promoted Shikamaru to Chunin, then it's possible Naruto would also assign Shikamaru a new position. It wasn't guaranteed that he would of course, but Asuma knew that it existed the possibility.

Sighing the last bit of his cigarette fell to the ground, Asuma walked forward a bit as he called out "Hey Shikamaru!"

"Huh? Yeah?"

"Come here for a second; we need to talk." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as he looked at Ino and Choji who just shrugged, not knowing what he was being called over for either. Sighing, Shikamaru pushed himself up as he walked over to Asuma.

"What is it sensei?"

"Heh, take a walk with me." Shikamaru was again confused but just nodded as the two began walking through the woods, the moonlight illuminating them. "You were impressive in that fight today, especially if it's true you didn't suffer any injuries."

"Well, I was able to distract him enough to where I could grab him with my shadow jutsu; it wasn't anything that impressive really."

"Still, the fact you were able to do so is an accomplishment, especially when you helped me out later in my own fight against the real one." Asuma gave a smile to Shikamaru who just shrugged.

"Well as I said, it wasn't anything impressive. But sensei, now that we're a good ways away from Choji and Ino, what did you really want to talk about?"

"Heh, always straight to the point." Asuma stopped as he looked at Shikamaru, who returned the look "During the mission briefing, Hokage-sama informed me that the council has recommended for you to be promoted to the rank of Chunin."

"Hm? Me? Man, that sounds like a drag."

"Ah come on Shikamaru, you can't say that doesn't sound all that exciting."

"Well, it comes out of nowhere, that's for sure. Especially after how the Chunin Exams ended...But I wouldn't turn down the promotion either, of course."

"Glad to hear. Though it should be stated that it was just a recommendation, the Hokage has the final say, though with how he talked I doubt he's going to ignore the recommendation."

"The Hokage huh?" Shikamaru looked up the sky as his thoughts began to run "Hey sensei, can I ask you a question?"

"Hm? About what?"

"It's about the Hokage." Asuma just looked at him for another moment before he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Until the public ceremony, I'm not allowed to-"

"I've narrowed it down to two people."

"Two people?"

"Yeah, thanks to some evidence I was able to gather. First off, this person is linked to Naruto, that much is true. Second off, this person came as a surprise to everyone, including my dad. Not only that, but apparently the delegates who talked with the Daimyo were less than thrilled looking when they returned. Plus other evidence also points to two people."

Asuma listened intently, wanting to know if Shikamaru could put it all together.

"Before we were called for our mission, I was going to get with Choji, Kiba, and Naruto to go eat and then train. However, we didn't know where Naruto exactly was, so we three were going to go eat before trying to find him. Yet the road to Ichiraku was closed down by jonin, with the only official word being it was 'under construction' despite the fact people like Sakura were able to pass through there just fine the night before."

"I hope you're not basing your answer solely off that."

"No, it just plays into the bigger picture. Afterward, I went to the hospital and into Sasuke's room, yet I only found Sakura and she told me that Naruto had not only left with Kakashi but you as well sensei. I told her to tell Naruto to come find me after he returned, but he never did since he never came over as I had asked. However, my last two pieces of evidence paint the picture I think."

"Last two?"

"Yeah, first is that apparently Kakashi was barred from voting, at least that's the official word, though it could be false because he was too close to the one they chose. While that leaves plenty of options, the one thing that gave me my two answers was what you said sensei." Asuma raised an eyebrow as Shikamaru finished up with his final evidence "You said that a lot of secrets about Naruto are about to be unveiled to everybody that's not in the higher ups, and to me, you would only unveil them if one of two people were chosen. Kakashi-sensei, due to him being warned about voting and also because he's close to Naruto, and may unveil the secrets about him. However I think my second answer is more possible, as crazy as it sounds, and that is that Naruto himself was chosen to be Hokage."

Silence followed up Shikamaru as Asuma just stared at him, neither one saying anything as the wind began to pick up, blowing against them as the moon shined down upon them. However, after just a few moments, Asuma gave a small smile as he spoke: "You're that smart, yet you never put it to use in school?"

"So...I'm right." Asuma gave a small chuckle as he nodded.

"Yeah, you hit it right on the nose. Naruto Uzumaki is the Fifth Hokage of Konoha." Shikamaru narrowed his eyes as Asuma spoke, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face.

"I know I deduced all of that, but...To actually hear the truth, it does make it somehow even harder to believe." Shikamaru looked down to the ground as a sigh he didn't know he was holding in came out.

"What? Do you have no faith in the decision? He was approved after all, hell I voted for him."

"No, it's...Well, I'm sure you don't care."

"Hm? Is there a story between you two? Well, I have time to listen; after all, the sun hasn't come up yet." Asuma said this as he sat down at the base of a tree, Shikamaru nodding as he walked over and sat beside him.

"...As you know, all of the kids were told by their parents to never associate with Naruto. Whether your parent was a ninja or a civilian, it didn't matter, and you were not to interact with him. While many of the civilians did this because they blamed him for the Kyuubi attack, I later found out that the ninja, the higher up ones anyway, were pressured to do so by the village elites."

Asuma nodded as he interjected "Yeah, there was a lot of pressure not to make any contact with him. Not from the Third Hokage himself, but more so from the ones in the shadows, like the ANBU ROOT leader."

"Yeah, that's what dad would tell me years later. Well despite being told this, Naruto did have friends, three of them actually. The public never knew about the friendship, hell not even the parents knew about the friendship for a while. Why were they his friends despite them being told not to associate with him? Well, it's because these three friends of his weren't really liked by the other kids either, and they also didn't really care what their parents told them. Because of this, one afternoon, these three friends came upon Naruto being bullied by one of the older kids."

"Oh? Did they now? Well, what were his friend's names?"

"His friends...Were named Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba…"

* * *

_Eight Years Ago_

"And take that you demon!" A voice rang out as a young Naruto Uzumaki was whipped into a tree hard, falling to his knees as his shirt was cut open, blood dripping down his body as one of the older boys had come after him. "That will teach you for trying to get close to my younger brother!"

Naruto had tears running down his face, not from the pain, he knew what pain felt like from his training with Jiraiya, it was more because of the emotional pain he was feeling, because once again he was being hated on despite the fact he had no idea why. "Yeah! Don't try to talk to me ever again Naruto!"

The younger brother yelled out as his older brother glared at Naruto, looking for another excuse to lay a beat down on him "I hope you understand you demon!"

Naruto cried some more as he looked up, tears running down his face "W-Why...I-I just wanted t-to play n-ninja w-with you…"

"You little, you think you even have a right to respond!?" The older brother kicked Naruto in the face as he again grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the tree, causing Naruto to cry out once more as the older brother continued to glare, wanting every excuse he could find to continue to beat on Naruto. "Apologize! Otherwise, I'll have to give you my ten fists of death!"

"I-I…"

"What!? Speak up you demon!"

"I-I...D-Didn't do anything.." Naruto cried some more as the older brother balled his fist and started walking towards Naruto.

"Oh so now you think you can talk back do ya!? Well, I'll change that attitude of yours real fa-"

"What are you doing?" The older brother was interrupted by a voice as he turned around and saw three boys around Naruto's age looking at him.

"What do you three want? I'm busy."

The boy with a laid back personality sighed as he walked forward as he stuffed his hands in his pockets "I asked what you were doing."

"What I'm doing? Isn't it obvious!? I'm making this demon understand his place!" The boy in the middle raised an eyebrow as he looked at the crying Naruto, all bloodied and teary-eyed as he laid against the tree.

"Huh, that's weird. I don't see a demon; I just see a boy that you're beating up for no reason." The older brother looked at the boy with a look of confusion before it returned back to anger.

"What!? So you're going to take the demons side? Well, in that case, that just means I have to take care of you as well huh!?" The older brother started walking towards the trio, yet the relaxed one in the middle didn't flinch as he spoke.

"Kiba!"

"I'm on it!" The boy on the right, going by the name of Kiba with a puppy on his shoulder ran forward towards the older brother "Akamaru! Let's get him!"

"Woof!" The puppy named Akamaru jumped off of Kiba's shoulder and latched its fans into the older brothers leg.

"Ah! What the-A dog!"

"Take this!" Kiba reached forward and slashed the older brothers face with his claw, leaving a mark across it as the older brother fell to the ground clutching his face, making the younger brother look on in shock.

"B-Bro! Y-You'll pay for this!" The younger brother ran forward to kick Akamaru off of the leg, but before he could…

"Choji!"

"Right!" The middle boy yelled out again as the boy on his left named Choji ran forward, and shoulder tackled the younger brother, sending him flying as he hit the ground and started to cry.

"H-Hey! Leave my little b-Whoah!" The older brother was interrupted as the relaxed boy picked him up by the collar.

"Do me a favor and leave this kid alone, I really don't feel like dealing with you today…" The older brother had tears in his eyes as blood ran down his face and leg as he was dropped back to the ground as he quickly got up and ran over to his little brother as he picked him up and started to run off.

"Y-You'll pay for this!" The older brother yelled out as he ran off, leaving the trio and Naruto behind.

Naruto just watched them in awe, never having someone stand up for him before. However, it hunkered down some as the relaxed boy walked over towards him, as he looked him over before he spoke: "So...What's your name?"

"H-Huh?" Naruto was confused; nobody had ever asked for his name before, they always just called him a demon and then either ignored him or beat him up.

"I asked what your name was."

"I-It's...N-Naruto…" The relaxed boy just nodded as Naruto expected the worse, yet…

"That's a cool name! My name's Shikamaru!" The boy known as Shikamaru gave a smile to Naruto who went wide-eyed as the other two boys joined in.

"Name's Kiba! This here is my partner Akamaru!"

"Woof woof!"

"And I'm Choji! It's nice to meet you Naruto!" Naruto just looked over all of them, astonished that they were being nice to him.

"So Naruto…" Shikamaru spoke up as he extended his hand towards him "We were about to go our spot, wanna join?"

"S-Spot?"

"Yeah, we go there every day after class. Choji brings the snacks, Kiba and Akamaru bring the toys and I kind of just come along for the ride. You wanna come with us today?"

Naruto just looked between all of them as more tears filled his eyes, yet unlike the tears he had experienced up to that point.

They were tears of happiness.

Naruto gave a smile as he nodded "Y-Yeah, I'd love to!"

Naruto reached up and grabbed Shikamaru's hand, as a new friendship between the group was formed.

* * *

_Present Day_

Asuma nodded as he lit another cigarette in his mouth as Shikamaru finished talking, the sound of an owl being heard after he spoke "So, that's how you became friends with Naruto. Huh, I never knew."

"Yeah well, it wasn't really public knowledge like I said. We didn't really have a chance to hang out in school, and most of the time we would just head to our own private spot after school and just meet up there. Nobody knew about our spot, and it was there that he hung out every day and just relaxed, not a care in the world."

"I see, well it's a good thing you did. You really help set him up to succeed, hell I think all of you set each other up. The very first thing he did as Hokage was sending us all out on missions."

"Heh, just like Naruto, getting straight to work. Well, he is Hokage now so he can do whatever he wants I guess." Shikamaru let out a chuckle as Asuma nodded.

"Yeah, that's the truth. So, got any more stories you want to share?"

"Heh, I have plenty, but...We should be going back, Choji and Ino may get worried if we're out here too late."

"Well I guess that's true, don't need them wandering off to find us, lets head back Shikamaru."

"Right…"

* * *

The small fire crackled in the woods as it's two occupants sat around it, each of them trying to find ways to past time as one let out a sigh "Man, Shikamaru, and Asuma-sensei have been gone for a long time! Do you know where they could have gone Choji?"

"Beats me, must be talking about something." Choji filled his mouth after speaking with his snack as Ino gave yet another sigh.

"Man, they always talk about the most boring stuff too! Man, why couldn't I have been placed on a team with someone else? Someone like Sasuke~?"

Ino let out a dreamy sigh as Choji kept eating "You really love Sasuke huh?"

"Of course! He's perfect in every way you can think of! Plus, I bet he would be doing something cool right now, instead of just talking in the woods!"

"Even if he was, I don't see how that would affect anything."

"Oh come on Choji; everything changes when you're around the person you love with all your heart!"

"Really? That's kinda cool I guess."

"Oh come on Choji, I'm sure you have someone you love, right?"

Choji stopped eating for a moment as he thought, trying to come up with answers "Well...I do think Anko-sensei is kinda cute."

"Hah?" Ino's eyes went blank as a sense of confusion swept over her "Anko-sensei? As in, the crazy lady over the Chunin Exams?"

"Yeah! If I had to be with someone, it would be with her I guess." Ino just stared at Choji with confusion as his answer slowly weaved itself into her head.

"I...See...Well uh, good luck with that, I guess…" Ino was really at a lost for words; she was expecting an answer like Hinata, Tenten, Sakura or hell even herself. Anko was easily the last person on her mind.

Choji just gave a nod as a sort of thank you as he kept eating, the night continuing on as Ino stayed relatively quiet after that, her mind filling with images of Choji and Anko, which just her even more confused as she tried to picture it.

Eventually, Asuma and Shikamaru emerged from the shadows, causing Ino to glare at them as she sat up "Where were you two? You were taking forever!"

"Ah sorry, I had to tell Shikamaru a few things, and we kinda got caught up in our talks."

"Ugh, I bet you were talking about boring stuff too."

"Haha, well maybe, maybe not. But anyway, even though we had a delay, we should be able to arrive by tomorrow evening if everything goes well. So we should go ahead and get some sleep, and leave by sunrise."

"By sunrise? Really…?"

"Yep! Alright, good night everyone!" Asuma gave a wave as he jumped up to a branch and laid down on it, while Ino just sighed in annoyance as she laid back down beside the fire.

Choji also laid down beside the fire, putting his snacks back into his pocket beforehand.

Shikamaru on the other hand just sat against a tree, thoughts running through his head about all the new information that had been confirmed.

_"Not only is Naruto actually Hokage, but I'm going to be a Chunin huh? Well, it should be interesting, to say the least...Still...It's a drag…"_

* * *

As soon as the sunrise could be seen, Team Ten headed off, continuing their journey to the wave country where they were would be escorting the bridge crew.

The journey to the country was much less hectic than the previous day, though they ran into a few bandits and thieves along the way, most of them ran away when they saw they were trying to ambush ninja, and the few who were brave enough to attack were quickly taken out.

Finally, as the sun got closer to the other side of the sky, the group came upon a large bridge with many traders and civilians passing through it.

Typically, the first thing most people might notice were the increased amount of personnel, as all routes leading to the Land of Waves converged into one as they all linked to the giant bridge leading to the country.

However, the first thing the team noticed was exactly what came out of Ino's mouth "The Great Naruto Bridge!? Why is it named after Naruto!?"

Asuma's first thought was that perhaps the country had somehow already learned of Naruto's appointment as Hokage, and named the bridge after him as a sign of peace. However, that thought quickly lost his head as he remembered leading in the report that the bridge had been named after Naruto for his efforts during the battle against Zabuza and Haku.

Shikamaru and Choji both let out small smiles as they saw it, remembering how Naruto had bragged to them that he was going to have a bridge named after him. They thought he was just joking at first, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

As Ino just continued to stare in confusion, Asuma just walked on past her as he spoke "Well as I said earlier, a lot of information about Naruto will be made public soon, including the fact he was essential in helping win the fight against the hidden nin. So as a present, this bridge was named after him."

"Really? I thought for sure that Sasuke was the one who won that fight for the team…"

"Haha, as I said earlier Ino, Zabuza was killed by Kakashi and Haku was killed by Naruto. At least, that's what the final reports say, maybe the actual result was different, the only way to find out were to be to ask one of Team Seven members yourself and see if you can the full story."

"I guess." Ino started walking behind Asuma as Shikamaru and Choji trailed her, the team entering onto the bridge and into the crowd. "Still, I didn't think Naruto was all that strong."

"Well, looks can be deceiving. Don't forget that he defeated both Kiba and Neji in the Chunin Exams, so he has a talent for sure. He's also been trained well, which you can see in his postures and the like."

"Yeah but he's also the dork who played pranks all the time as a kid and always threw mud at the girls because we refused to go near him!" Besides…" Ino lowered her voice as she spoke: "My parents always told me not to go near him."

Shikamaru and Choji narrowed their gaze at Ino as all the memories of Naruto being abused came into their thoughts, the number of times they stuck up to the bullies and even later on when they had to confront their own parents about it.

Asuma though just kept his smile as he puffed some smoke "Well, people mature and grow out of old habits, no matter how childish. Naruto might have done some childlike stuff in the past, but I really believe he's grown into a fine young man so far. And if you don't want to take my word for it, just listen to the people around you."

"People around me?"

"Sure, a lot of them are staring for a reason you know, they recognize what village we're from."

"Huh?" Ino looked around, and indeed she saw many people looking at them and whispering, though some were also talking out loud as she caught wind of their conversations.

'Hey there from Konoha aren't they?'

'Oh yeah! You can tell by the older one's vest and the headbands they all have!'

'That's the village with the Orange Flash, isn't it? The one who saved the country, his name is Naruto isn't it?'

'Yes, that's him! I wonder what he's like? Anybody who can take out some missing-nin must be powerful and cool!'

'I saw him walk by my house once! He's really dreamy if you ask me!'

'What really? Oh, you're so lucky Albedo!'

Ino listened to all the people around them talking as she was incredibly surprised by how popular Naruto was, she was expecting Team Seven as a whole to be popular here, but instead, all everyone was talking about was Naruto.

"See what I mean? Though Naruto may still have a negative image in the eyes of many in the village, the people he's touched outside of the village shows that without the initial negative conception. He's really something else."

"I never knew, huh...Maybe there is something more to him than meets the eye." Asuma gave a smile to Ino's words as he kept walking across the bridge.

" _Hokage-sama, many people have a very negative view of you. It won't be long until it is public knowledge that you hold the most powerful position in the country and the absolute ruler of the strongest hidden village. I will do everything I can to make sure that perception of you is gone."  
_

"Oh by the way sensei."

"Hm? What's up?"

"It's just...Ever since we've started on this mission, you've been speaking very highly of Naruto, mentioning him as early as when we were just at the gates ready to depart. I also find it a bit odd that you said a lot of new information about Naruto would be made public soon, is there a reason for this?"

Shikamaru tensed up some, hoping Ino wasn't catching on, yet Asuma didn't show any reaction as he replied: "Well, it's because of the Fifth Hokage."

"The Hokage? Is he close to Naruto or something?"

"You could say that, no well, that may be extremely accurate. Hokage-sama knows Naruto very well, and because of that, he's going to be releasing a lot of information to the public that has been kept hidden, in an effort to show Naruto isn't this bad guy that everybody thinks he is."

"Does Naruto know about this?"

"Of course, in fact, Naruto already knows who the Hokage is."

"What really!? Then...It must be Kakashi-sensei; he must be the new Hokage!" Asuma chuckled as he shrugged.

"Who knows? I'm not at liberty to say, Kakashi may be the Fifth, he may not be. Whatever the case, I really do mean it when I say Naruto isn't a bad guy. In fact, I would say he has the potential to become Hokage someday."

"Oh come on sensei, I can believe that Naruto might be a little cool, but trying to make me believe he has even a tiny chance of becoming Hokage is a bit much." Asuma and Shikamaru both inwardly laughed at the irony as the team approached the end of the bridge.

"Well, who knows, people said the same things about the Fourth Hokage at times. It all just depends on how fate guides you." The team stepped off the bridge and officially into the Land of Waves as Asuma cracked his neck and looked back at his team. "Alright, now we're close to the Bridge Builders house; let's get going."

* * *

"Ah, so you're the ninja that the Hokage sent?" The group was able to easily find Tazuna's house since it was stationed right in the middle of the town as Asuma nodded.

"Yeah that's us, I'm guessing your Tazuna?"

"Yes that's correct, I'm the head builder of this town and a member of the town council which is in charge of all day to day operations. Please, come inside." Asuma nodded as he walked inside with his team following, the smell of fish quickly entering their nostrils "My daughter is currently making supper if you wish to join us."

"Ah no that's fine; we don't wish to intrude."

"Nonsense! It's getting late out, and we were given warning of your arrival ahead of time, so it's not like we don't have enough! If anything we have more than enough!" Asuma looked at his team and noticed they did seem to be a bit hungry, so he just nodded at Tazuna's words.

"Well if you insist, I guess we can eat a plate." Tazuna nodded as running could be heard from the kitchen as a small boy ran out.

"Grandpa! Are these the ninja you said were coming!?"

"Ah yes that's right, these are...Ah, my apologies but I never got your names."

Asuma nodded as he held a hand out. "I'm Asuma Sarutobi, leader of Team Ten. Behind me are Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Tazuna shook Asuma's hand before giving a small bow towards the others who returned it. "As you know I'm Tazuna, this little one here is my grandson Inari and the one currently cooking supper is my daughter Tsunami."

Inori looked at the group as he looked a little down as he spoke "Aw...They're different from last time."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I mean it's not the same guys from earlier! I mean sure it's three boys and a girl again, but it's not the same!" Tazuna nodded, understanding what Inori meant.

"Ah right, last time it was the team of Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto...At least I think that's what their names were."

"Yeah! They were all really cool! Kakashi and Sasuke were mysterious, and Sakura was beautiful! Oh! But nothing beats how awesome Naruto was! He was amazing!" Again Ino looked surprised as she heard the little boy boast about Naruto, adding to the ever-growing list of people from this country who seemed to love him, was he really that amazing?

"Yes they were quite amazing, but these ninja here are pretty amazing as well."

"Oh of course! Ninja is awesome; I want to be one someday!"

"Hm? But I thought you said you wanted to be a builder just like your gramps?"

"Well, I can do both can't I?" As the family talked to one another, Asuma looked around, inspecting the small house when another person appeared from the kitchen.

"Father, dinner is re-Oh! It seems our guests have arrived." Coming out from the kitchen was a middle age woman with blue hair, a pink shirt, and a blue skirt, holding a tray of freshly cooked fish in her hands.

"Ah yes." Tazuna turned his attention to Asuma as he spoke: "As I mentioned earlier, this is my daughter Tsunami."

"Pleased to meet you!"

Asuma nodded as he spoke "Likewise."

Tazuna walked over to Asuma and placed a hand on his shoulder as he looked him in the eyes "You said your name was Asuma? I have something I wish to talk to you about; it's concerning the letter we received about your arrival."

'Ah, alright."

"Tsunami, treat everyone well until we get done talking."

"Ah, of course, father." Tazuna nodded as he led Asuma into one of the side rooms away from everybody else.

Tazuna allowed Asuma into the room as he shut it behind him and locked it, as he gestured Asuma to a chair as he sat across from him "Now then, Asuma Sarutobi, I called you in here to discuss the letter that the Hokage sent to me."

"Ah right, he mentioned that he would send out a notice for you. Was there anything important in it that we need to talk about?"

"Hm...Well regarding the village repairs, my crew and I will be more than happy to help, hell we'll even give you a discount. Think of it as a favor to the Hokage for all the help he gave us in the past."

"Huh? You know about…?"

"About that Naruto kid becoming the Hokage? Heh, yeah he mentioned it in his letter, it was very informal actually. Now don't worry, he asked for me to keep it secret from everyone, including my own family, the only person he told me I could discuss it with was a ninja by the name of Asuma Sarutobi, which you appear to be the guy."

"Yeah, that's correct. Well, I'm happy to hear about you being agreeable with helping the repairs, but that can't be the only thing you called me in here to talk about."

"That's correct. I actually called you in here for a much more serious topic." Tazuna reached inside his jacket and pulled out a canteen as he took a sup, the smell of wine filling the air as soon as he took the cap off "As you know, we are a tiny country, so small in fact, that if any of the hidden villages attacked, we'd be crushed in minutes."

"Yeah, though Konoha has pledged to protect you to deter other villages from launching any attacks. Though If I may be honest, this place offers no strategic value, even with the bridge."

"That is correct; however, that leads to a bigger point. We have no Kage to call our own, we don't even have a daimyo, ever since the city council was established a few months back, they've been calling all the shots, and generally, this system of diplomacy with each member having as much power as the one across from them has worked wonders. However, we've had some disagreements on things, especially foreign policy, and because of that, the council wishes to elect a new leader. In fact, the one they wish to elect as the De Facto Head of the country is me."

"You?"

"Yes, we are not a shinobi nation, and thus the council believes a civilian like me, who has helped bring great economic prosperity to the country thanks to the bridge, would be a great interim leader."

"Interim? Do you mean you don't wish for the job permanently?"

"No, we just need someone to help guide our country while we are still independent. For you see, our council recently voted to join the Fire Country, or rather, they wish to be ruled by Konoha."

"Huh? You want the Land of Waves to join our country and be a state rather than a country?"

"That's correct, and it would be very beneficial actually, we would receive extra protection, while the Fire Country and Konoha would gain a growing trading place that would surely help bring even more economic prosperity to you." Asuma looked at Tazuna as the dim light outside continued to get even fainter.

"Well, I have no say in whether that happens or not, though it should be noted that there would be many complications, First, both Daimyo-sama and Hokage-sama would have to approve of the annexation, and even then other factors would have to come into play. Such as the Land of Rivers, who have longed to take control of the Land of Waves, and while they are not allies with Suna, the fact is that Suna did just invade us, so should we get into conflict with the Land of Rivers, then Suna may support them in the shadows."

"I understand that of course, but the Land of Rivers is a big reason we wish to join your country, especially since our guards discovered their spies just a few weeks ago. We'll help rebuild Konoha for free should you allow us, that much I can guarantee!"

Asuma just closed his eyes as he laid his head back, knowing that while the annexation had been talked about by his father, the Third Hokage, he still remembered how his advisors had always talked him out of the idea. While most of those advisors were still present, he also knew that the jonin were trying their best to keep them away from Naruto so he could hire his own advisors and usher in a new generation of thinking.

After a few more moments of silence, Asuma spoke: "Well, if you assume the role of interim leader, then you will have to lead the discussions with Hokage-sama and Daimyo-sama, I assume this is alright?"

"I expected as much, and I'm prepared to do so if needed."

"Well then, I can at least get you a meeting, besides I'm sure Naruto would be more than happy to see you again."

"I see, thank you Asuma!"

"Don't mention it, and I'm just doing what's best for my village. _Plus, if word gets out that the Hokage was able to discuss a peaceful and welcome annexation, then that can help Naruto's image, even more, when he's revealed as the fifth."_

* * *

"Tsunami, treat everyone well until we get done talking."

"Ah, of course, father." Tazuna nodded as he leads Asuma away into another room, leaving Tsunami and her son alone with the three genins. The team looked around a bit awkwardly, yet Tsunami gave them a warm smile as she ushered them to the table "Please help yourself, I made enough for everyone."

"A-Ah thanks," Shikamaru spoke for the team as they all surrounded the table, with Choji immediately reaching for the biggest fish he could find while Shikamaru and Ino awkwardly looked at each other. "We're sorry for the intrusion; we didn't mean to force you to cook for us."

"Ah it's no trouble at all; I owe a great deal to your village, so it's the least I could do." Tsunami brought more plates of food over as both Choji and Inari were stuffing their plates, the two of them silently watching one another as they both tried to grab the biggest fish available. "Although I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I was expecting the same team from last time to appear once again, especially since it's to guide my father."

"When you say the same team, I'm assuming you mean the team of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi?" Shikamaru kept speaking for the team as Tsunami nodded.

"That's correct, I owe a lot to them after all, so I was silently hoping that they would be sent once again to escort my father."

"I see, that makes sense, well I do apologize that we're not them."

"Oh no, please don't take it that way. I'm happy to meet some new people from Konoha, especially shinobi!" Tsunami gave a smile towards the group which they returned, feeling at ease from her pleasant tone.

Though Ino began to remember the words she heard on her way over here as she opened her mouth to speak "Hey um, can I ask a question?"

"Hm? Yes, what is it dear?"

"Well...You keep saying you owe a lot to the previous team, but on my way over here, all I heard was nothing but Naruto mentioned! I mean even the bridge was named after him!"

Tsunami kept her smile as she let out a small chuckle as she placed even more plates of food on the table as Choji and Inori kept their silent food matching contest going "Well, out of all of them, Naruto is the most famous due to him not only going blow for blow with the missing-nin Haku, but he's also the one who helped Zabuza see what's truly most important in this world, which leads to him redeeming himself before his death."

"Huh? But sensei said that Naruto killed Haku, and then Kakashi-sensei killed Zabuza."

"Oh, I see. They've not told the whole story to you, have they? Well, I'm sure they have their reasons, so I shouldn't say anything more on the matter."

"Oh...Well I can get Naruto and everyone becoming famous for killing some missing-nin, but why do people idolize them around here, again especially Naruto?"

Tsunami had a bit of sadness leek onto her face, though she kept her smile as she began pouring drinks for everyone "It's because they ended the time known as the 'darkened waves' period."

"Darkened Waves Period?"

"Yeah...You see, before the Great Naruto Bridge was built, we were a small isolated island which relied on things such as trading and fishing for survival. That all changed however when a cruel man by the name of Gato invaded and took control of our shipping industry, using it to smuggle drugs and sell slaves. He broke our will by starving us to death, and…" Tsunami paused for a moment as a tear ran down her face as she quickly wiped it off "And by killing my husband, Kaiza."

The mood in the room turned to one of sadness as Inari stopped pilling his plate with food as he looked down sadly at the ground, which caused Shikamaru, Ino and Choji to awkwardly stare at each other with faces of regret as Ino spoke back up "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"It's fine, that was in the past after all, and I've moved on, it's what he would have wanted after all."

"Still, to raise a son without the father around, that must be tough."

"Well, it's not the first time. You see, my first husband, Inari's father, passed away when he was a baby, and for a few years, I had to raise Inari by myself, as my father was often busy and my mother had passed away years before his birth. I met Kaiza when Inari was a few years old, but he was basically Inari's father as he did help raise him. I will admit, after Kaiza's death, it was hard for both of us but...It's a big reason that out of all of them I owe a lot to Naruto. He made us realize that we can't hold onto the past and that we have to value what we already have, and what we already have is each other."

Tsunami gave a smile to Ino who just nodded, her image of Naruto changing more and more drastically each second it seemed "W-Well, who knows, maybe you'll find someone else in the future, you still look young after all!"

Ino said it in an effort to cheer Tsunami up, so she was a bit surprised when she saw Tsunami gain a small blush as she nodded "W-Well, that can always happen...But sadly, the man I think of nowadays might be a bit too closed off for me."

Ino looked up at her in confusion, yet her paranoid side began to take over as one thought ran through her head " _Is she in love with Sasuke!?"_

Shikamaru on the other hand, after listening to her speak of him, had a different thought " _Oh man, is she in love with Naruto?"_

Choji tried to think of someone as he ate when he thought " _Must be Kakashi-sensei, he has that mask after all."_

Shikamaru and Ino, both of them looked at each other in confusion, neither one knowing what to think.

They wouldn't be able to think on the matter much longer though, as the doors opened and Tazuna and Asuma walked back out, as Asuma looked at his team and spoke: "You guys better eat up, because first thing in the morning, we're heading back home."

Shikamaru nodded as he looked at Tazuna "Guess your crew already knows?"

Tazuna nodded as he turned and headed to another room "Yep, they'll be here first thing in the morning."

Asuma watched him leave as he sat down beside Shikamaru as he gave a smile to his entire team "You better be ready when you all get home because I have a feeling Hokage-sama will want to meet with all of us."

Ino raised an eyebrow as she looked at Asuma "Why is that sensei?"

Asuma looked at Shikamaru, who raised an eyebrow as Asuma placed his hand on Shikamaru's shoulder "Well it's because of this guys future, right Shikamaru?"

"Oh really!? What is it Shikamaru?" Ino looked at Shikamaru in anticipation as Choji also seemed to stop eating as he waited for an answer.

Shikamaru sighed in annoyance as he looked at his team and casually said: "It looks like I'm going to be promoted Chunin."

"Oh really!? That's great! I'm happy for you for once!" Ino did seem genuinely happy as even Choji gave a nod of approval, though Shikamaru just sighed as Asuma inwardly laughed.

" _Who knows Shikamaru, with how close you and Naruto seem to be, he may just have something more important for you to do, especially if he can help forge the annexation request. Heh, it's going to be an interesting next few days."_


	8. Konoha Recovery Arc II:Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth can often be hard to hear, whether it's as something as small as the truth about why your friend is sad.
> 
> Or as something as big as the truth about your entire family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, originally I was going to have this arc just be three chapters. However, after writing this chapter and apart of the next chapter, I've come to the conclusion it's going to be a bit more than that. So taking that into account, I would estimate Naruto's innaguration coming around chapter 12-13, and the start of the romance building in Chapter 14. I'm sorry it's a slow burn so far, but this is a political story above all else so world building is important.
> 
> Also I want to state this story is Naruto/Temari, other girls may fall for Naruto but it's all for a bigger story arc i have planned for that character. Just saying that before anybody has questions regarding that.
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoy!

 

* * *

"The truth...About the day you were born, and the Nine-Tails Fox attack." The air seemed to grow thin as Jiraiya spoke, sending a chill down Naruto's spine as he looked at him dead in the eyes.

"The day I was born? What about it?"

"Naruto, you were never supposed to know this, at least not for a long time. But with you suddenly becoming Hokage, it's your right to know the dark truth this village has been hiding from you." Naruto narrowed his eyes as Jiraiya turned and locked the door as he walked forward. "First, this is top secret information, and while I can't tell you what to do, I recommend not telling anybody, at least not the full story."

Naruto nodded as suddenly a puff of smoke appeared beside him, an ANBU agent with a dragon mask kneeling beside Naruto "Hokage-sama!"

"A-Ah yeah?" Naruto was a bit taken back from the sudden appearance of one of the agents, especially since he hadn't really seen any of them since he became Hokage.

"First, I apologize for the delay, but I am Dragon, and I'm in charge of the team that personally guards you every minute of every day! Second off, I am aware of the information that Jiraiya-sama is about to tell you, and I ask for your permission to seal this room off while it's discussed!"

Naruto looked over to Jiraiya, who just gave a small nod, making Naruto understand "Alright, that's fine, do what's needed to keep this information secure."

"Understood!" Dragon vanished as soon as he appeared, and immediately the room darkened, the only things visible were Naruto, his desk and Jiraiya.

"Now Naruto, I must first ask you, do you know of the demon that attacked the village thirteen years ago?"

"Yeah I know about it to a degree, but I don't know the full story. All I know is that the Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself to kill the demon and save the village; that's why the old man was back in charge shortly after."

"Well, that's partially true." Jiraiya sighed as he walked forward and sat in the chair in front of the desk, the darkness closing in on them as they looked at each other eye to eye. "The Fourth Hokage did indeed sacrifice himself; however, his sacrifice didn't kill the demon; it just sealed it."

"Sealed it?"

"Yes, for you see, when a tailed beast is sealed within someone, that person becomes what is known as a Jinchuuriki. There are nine tailed beasts, meaning there are nine active Jinchuuriki's. What's more, each of the five hidden villages has at least one Jinchuuriki, including Konoha."

"We do? Wait, does that mean our Jinchuuriki contains the Nine-Tails?"

"That is correct, the Jinchuuriki of Konoha has the Nine-Tails sealed in them, or rather they have what is called the Kyuubi contained in them."

"Kyuubi?"

"Yes, the name of the Nine-Tails. Now as I was saying, the Fourth Hokage sealed the Kyuubi away in someone, ending the attack on the village. The person he sealed the Kyuubi in was his own newborn son." Naruto raised an eyebrow as he was a bit taken back, not knowing that the fourth even had a son.

"His newborn son? I didn't know the fourth had a kid."

"His son was his only child, as both the Fourth Hokage and First Lady perished in the Kyuubi's attack, both of them sacrificing themselves to seal the beast in their son. It's tragic really; I knew them personally after all."

"Huh? You knew them sensei?" Jiraiya nodded as a sad smile appeared on his face, memories filling his head.

"Of course, the Fourth Hokage was actually my student, just like you are Naruto! Him and his wife were the perfect couple; they were most happy when they were with each other, and together they were unstoppable as a team."

"That's kinda cool, I wish I got the chance to meet them." Jiraiya bit down on his lip as he just nodded.

"The thing is, you have actually met them. You were very young, and it wasn't for very long but...You have met them before."

"Oh, well thirteen years ago was when I was born, so I guess I was just a baby myself. What were their names?"

"Minato and Kushina Namikaze were what their names were. Minato was called the 'The Yellow Flash' while his wife Kushina was called 'The Red Hot Habanero' which were both very appropriate names for them, due to Minato's speed and Kushina's temper." Jiraiya let out a nostalgic laugh, as Naruto gave a small smile.

"I see...Well, what was their son's name? After all, if he's the Jinchuuriki, then I should meet him personally; actually, he should be around my age."

"Naruto…"

"Huh? What?"

"No, I wasn't calling for you. That was his name." Naruto's eyes started to go wide as Jiraiya stared at him intently."Naruto Uzumaki, the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze."

Naruto's eyes went as wide as they could, his mouth following suit as he just stared at Jiraiya, his mind not wanting to accept the words he just heard. "W-What did you just say?"

"You heard me, Naruto. You are the son of the Fourth Hokage, and you are also the Jinchuuriki of Konoha, forever destined to carry the Kyuubi inside of you." Naruto's body shook as he just stared at Jiraiya, not knowing how to react as he couldn't move. "It was the Thirds decision to not only never tell you, but to never tell anyone else."

"T-The old man?"

"Yeah, he never wanted the secret about you being the Fourth's Son or the fact that you were the Jinchuuriki to leak out to anyone. However, even without the truth becoming public knowledge, you were still blamed for the attack and became a monster to the people of the village. You were the perfect scapegoat, after all, the 'demon child' that was born as soon as the Kyuubi was sealed, the child of death, the child of calamity...It was a select few at first; however, these select few were high ranking ninja, and their influence eventually helped spread it out to everyone in the village, making your life growing up a living hell."

"N-No that can't be…" Naruto gripped his hand as he continued to shake, tears filling his eyes as he looked down.

"Naruto, this is why I tried my best to train you and help you understand that fear was what was driving people to hate you, not anything else! They never hated you because of who you were; they hated you because of the circumstances surrounding your birth."

"Lies; it has to be!" Naruto slammed his hand on his desk as more tears ran down his face "I'm this so-called Jinchuuriki? I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage? Even if that is true, you're expecting me to believe that even when the village started to hate me, the Old man never did anything to stop it!?"

"That's not true Naruto! He did everything he could to help you! That's why I stuck around because I wanted to train and raise you. I wanted to at least give you that!"

"Then why not move me to another village, somewhere where I could grow up like any other kid!?"

"Because...Because the village needed to keep you! If they lost the Jinchuuriki, and it became public knowledge, then none of the other hidden villages would hold back and immediately begin planning to launch an attack! You can't say this isn't true, because Suna just attacked us! Don't forget that you just fought against their Jinchuuriki in Gaara!"

Naruto continued to shake as tears ran down his face, his Hokage hat falling off his head and onto the table as he lightly pounded it, before he looked up, his red puffy eyes making contact with Jiraiya "So, I was a weapon to the higher-ups, that's what you're saying?"

"That's…"

"It's fine; I understand." Naruto wiped his eyes off as he tried to straighten himself as he grabbed his hat and looked at it "You taught me not to ever blame the villagers, and I'm not going to do that. But I am going to blame the ones who did their best to undercut the old man."

"Naruto, don't fall for revenge and hatred! It never leads to the right path!"

"Don't worry, and I'm not taking my revenge the old fashion way."

"What do you-" Jiraiya was cut off as Naruto raised his hat back up and placed it on his head, giving a small smile to Jiraiya.

"I mean that the best way to get revenge on the ones who blamed me for everything is to be the one thing they never wanted me to be. A leader. A leader who won't ever put the blame on others, a leader who will take responsibility, a leader who will lead the village to the future! A leader, who will judge fairly."

Naruto gave a bigger smile as he nodded, Jiraiya incredibly impressed by the maturity Naruto was showing.

"However, sensei, I need help to take that revenge, so...How about it?"

"What?"

"My first hire as Hokage! I want you to be my personal advisor!"

"Personal advisor? Heh, sorry kid but that's a no go for me."

"Huh? How come?"

"Well, that's obvious!" Jiraiya gave an even bigger smile than Naruto's as he spoke: "I'll be spending my time watching over you and doing my research, I don't have time to sit in an office all day."

Naruto laughed as he nodded "Well, I guess that's your decision. Then let me give you an order and not an offer. I order you to tell me everything you know about my parents...Please…"

Jiraiya just nodded as he gave a thumbs up "Of course, I can't deny an order from the Hokage after all."

"Ehehe!"

"However, do remember what I said though."

"Huh? What's that?"

"It's this. Like I said at the start, I wouldn't tell anyone, at least not the full story. I believe that telling everyone you're the son of the Fourth is the best option right now, we need to build up support for you before announcing you as the Fifth Hokage. Meaning we keep the Jinchuuriki part still a secret for now."

"Right, that does make sense, that would only make them more opposed."

"Yeah, we'll start slowly giving out information soon. But first, you've had a long day; how about some lunch before anything else?"

"Ah yeah! Ichiraku, here we come!" Naruto went to signal for Dragon to appear, but before he could, Jiraiya spoke back up.

"Oh before that, I actually have something to give you. A present of sorts." Jiraiya got up from his seat as the darkness around them widened a bit as he walked over to a locker that was in the corner of the room "As soon as you were picked to be the Hokage five days ago, I immediately had this custom made. It took almost all of my money since I needed it done in just a few days, but it was well worth it...But first, a present...From your father…"

Naruto let out a small huh as Jiraiya opened the locker and picked up a box inside as he walked back over to the desk and laid it on it.

"You're father always wanted to pass this down to you when you were old enough, I had to patch it up some and clean it but other than that, I've not done anything to it."

Naruto nodded as he pulled off the lid to the box to reveal a blue shirt with matching blue pants underneath it "What is this?"

"This is the outfit your father wore almost every single day, it's a bit rough, but it should fit you, though it may take a year or two to grow into it fully." Naruto picked up the shirt and held it up as he looked it over, not even realizing a tear was in his eye until he felt it run down his face as he quickly wiped it off.

"My father's clothes? These were the clothes my dad wore?"

"Yep, sure are. As I said, he always wanted to pass them down to you, and I remember sitting at the table with him just gushing about how happy he was because he was going to be a dad and how excited he was to live your life with you." Jiraiya looked away as he felt a tear of his very own try to enter his eyes as more tears fell down Naruto's face.

"I see, that's was dad wanted huh…" Naruto wiped his face off once again as he tried to keep his composure, yet everything was hitting him at blinding speed, and the realization was finally hitting him.

His parents really did love him. He had always been told that his parents had died in the Kyuubi attack and that they were very caring of him, but...He never really felt that they loved him.

Until now.

As soon as he grabbed onto the clothes, he felt just a plethora of emotions fill him, from sadness to happiness, to joy, to love...A love he had never felt before in his life.

Naruto felt himself shaking again as he laid the shirt down and sat down in his chair, tears running down his face and onto his robes as he pulled his hat down to hide his face, not wanting Jiraiya to see his tears.

However, it did the opposite; it instead hid Jiraiya's tears from Naruto, the both of them trying to keep their composures as the memories of the past tried to take over Jiraiya while the tears of realization took over Naruto.

After a moment, Jiraiya was able to get a hold of himself as he turned back towards Naruto, who was still looking down as Jiraiya walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder "Naruto...Your parents wouldn't want you to cry right now, and they would want you to be happy and keep pushing forward. After all, you are the Fifth Hokage; are you not?"

Naruto didn't say anything for a moment; however, he soon raised his head as he wiped his face off once more "Y-You're right; I need to stay composed."

Naruto cleared his throat as he looked back down at the clothes and just gave a smile; this wasn't something to cry over and be sad about. This was something to celebrate and enjoy.

"Oh, you said you had something else for me sensei?"

"Yeah, this is kinda based off of your father, but I added my own little twist to it." Jiraiya walked back over to the locker and pulled out another box as he walked back over and laid it on the desk "Your father always wore a white cloak with red flames, with the words Fourth Hokage written on the back. So, I used all of my money like I said, to make your own variation of it."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he opened the box and went wide-eyed at what was inside.

Inside of the box was an orange cloak with black flames adjourning the sleeves and the bottom of the cloak, with the kanji for Fifth Hokage written on the back. Naruto was speechless as he took it out, amazed at the design of it.

"Minato never enjoyed wearing the robes all the time, so he had a cloak made for him when he was going into battle or just walking in public. He only wore the robes during formal meetings and of course during his public ceremony. I figured this would be good for you to wear since you're not really one to wear robes all day."

Naruto just kept looking over the cloak in astonishment as he yelled out "T-This is amazing sensei! It looks so cool!"

"Heh, glad to hear." As Naruto kept admiring the cloak, Dragon suddenly reappeared beside him.

"Hokage-sama, you have someone requesting to meet with you!"

"Huh? Who?"

"Kakashi Hatake sir!"

"Oh, Kakashi-sensei? Go ahead and let him in; you can also stop securing the area as much; we're done talking about any important matters for now."

"Sir!" Dragon vanished as soon the room lightened back up to its regular lightning as a knock was heard on the door as Jiraiya opened it to reveal Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei! Everything alright?" Kakashi just nodded as he looked at Jiraiya and then at the cloak in Naruto's hands.

"So, it seems like you two just got finished." Kakashi directed his question towards Jiraiya who responded in a somewhat low voice.

"Yeah, I told him everything from the Kyuubi attack to who his parents were to the fact that he's a Jinchuuriki." Kakashi nodded as he walked over to Naruto.

"Naruto, I want to apologize. I was never allowed to tell you anything about your past, so I hope you don't harbor any ill will towards me."

"Of course not sensei, while I am upset that nobody told me, I can understand it to a degree I guess. But that was in the past, and now that I know, there's no reason for you to be worried about me being mad, you were just following orders."

"Yeah, everyone in the village was."

"Right, so anyway Kakashi-sensei, what did you come here for?"

"Well, first of all, didn't I say for you to stop calling me sensei?" Naruto gave an awkward laugh as he scratched the back of his head as Kakashi sighed "Well anyway, I came here to tell you that Sasuke just woke up."

"What really!?" Naruto had a huge smile suddenly take over his face as he bellowed out to Kakashi "That's awesome! Oh, I have to go see him right away!"

"Hold on there hotshot." Kakashi held a hand up before continuing "I would advise against anything to aggravate him, he did just lose a match to Gaara after all, a match you won by the way."

Naruto bit down on his lip as he took a deep breath "Right, Sasuke's not one who takes losing well."

"Another thing, remember that you are under heavy protection, so if you are going to go see Sasuke, at least let the ANBU set up a security perimeter first." Naruto nodded, having to remind himself that he can't just go wherever he pleased at short notice anymore.

"Right right…" Naruto thought for a moment as his eyes landed back on his cloak, an idea coming to him as he stared at it, wondering if it would be smart to follow through with said idea before deciding that it would be for the best. "Hey Kakashi-sensei, as I did with Iruka, I can tell anybody I want I'm Hokage, right?"

Kakashi knew where this was going as he nodded "Well of course, as you've already been told many, many times, you are above the law...Really you are the law if you think about it, so to speak."

Naruto nodded as he looked over at Jiraiya "Sensei, I need your help changing."

"Alright, I'll go get your cloth-"

"No." Naruto cut him off as he grabbed his father's clothes "I want to fulfill my dad's wish and wear the clothes he always wore, even if they are a bit big."

Jiraiya looked at him for a moment with a surprised look before it melted into a smile "Alright, if that's what you want."

Naruto nodded as he looked back to Kakashi "Kakashi-sensei, I want you to travel with me to meet with Sasuke...I-I plan on telling Sakura and Sasuke…"

"I figured as much. I guess they are your teammates; if anyone deserves to know, it's them." Naruto nodded as he took the hat off and laid it on the desk as Kakashi walked over to the windows and looked outside, watching the civilians move back and forth as Naruto was helped out of his robes.

Once out of his robes, Naruto put his father's blue shirt and pants on, and with a bit of tucking and rolling, they were able to make them fit. Naruto then looked at the cloak on the table as he picked it up and put it on, easily the cloak slid on as he felt a sense of power come over him when he did so. "Alright, last thing…"

Naruto reached down for his hat as he placed it behind him and tied the strings around his waist, something he had read that the Kage's always did when traveling and something he had seen the old man do a time or two.

Once his outfit was fully on, Naruto felt a lot more comfortable as he called out to Kakashi "How do I look Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm?" Kakashi looked behind him and went wide-eyed, as he saw Naruto with his back turned towards Kakashi, the kanji for Fifth Hokage in view with the hat around the waist, arms crossed and his head looking back with a smirk, and for just a moment, Kakashi thought he was in the past. However, he quickly regained himself as he coughed into his hand and nodded "Looks good, although since you're very outwardly saying your Hokage, we're gonna have to travel to the Hospital in secret."

"We can just take the carriage can't we?"

"Well we could, but people might be a little suspicious that the Hokage decided to randomly travel to the hospital, even more so on the day Sasuke woke up. Some might begin to think Sasuke's actually the Hokage, while others might begin to suspect you."

"Ah right, well I guess I can just take the cloak and hat off then…" Naruto went to do so, but before he could, another puff of smoke appeared, however this time it wasn't Dragon, as the one wearing the ANBU mask had a ponytail and a Fish Mask.

'Hokage-sama!"

"A-Ah yeah?" Naruto immediately knew it wasn't Dragon since the voice was now clearly a female.

"My name is Tilapia, lord! I am one of the ANBU responsible for your protection, and I serve under Dragon! I can assist you in getting to the Hospital undetected sir! I just have to use my 'Hiding with Camouflage technique,' and you will be able to get there undetected! We will also apply a genjutsu to you to hide your scent and chakra!"

Naruto seemed impressed as his respect for the ANBU grew a bit more, they had always been easy to trick and get around when Sarutobi was Hokage, but it seemed they had been much more protective of him in the few hours he had been in office. Naruto nodded with a smile as he spoke: "Alright, let's do that!"

"Lord!" Tilapia began applying the jutsu as Kakashi walked by and to the door.

"I'll meet you at the hospital. Naruto, I'll prepare some Jonin to block a pathway for you."

"Alright, thanks Kakashi!" Kakashi nodded as he left, Naruto taking a deep breath afterward, knowing that this meeting would forever change his relationship with Sakura and Sasuke.

After having the technique applied to him, Naruto slowly vanished until he was completely invisible, not being seen by the naked eye. After a moment, Tilapia lowered her hands as she spoke "Hokage-sama, though you are now invisible to the general public, tracking ninja will still be able to detect you. We will first apply a bug to you so we can keep track of your lord, and then we shall apply a genjutsu to hide the rest of you from trackers."

Naruto nodded as another puff of smoke appeared with another ANBU agent with a wolf mask "...My name is Wolf...I shall personally keep track of you while you are hidden Hokage-sama…"

Naruto just nodded again as the ANBU raised his hand and a bug flew out of the sleeve of Wolf's attire and landed on Naruto's neck before walking down and into Naruto's shirt as it vanished from view thanks to the jutsu.

Once the bug was on Wolf vanished as Tilapia spoke again "Lord, we now have a tracking bug on you that only Wolf will be able to keep track of. I shall now apply the genjutsu to you; however, I must regretfully say that your voice can still be heard. While we could hide even your voice, I'm afraid that we must allow you to be able to make contact with us at any time."

"T-That's fine, no reason to apologize. It's needed after all." Tilapia didn't say anything as she moved her hands and began forming another hand sign and soon enough, Naruto felt a heavy presence on him just like the day before, most likely the same genjutsu being applied that allows him to go undetected.

"Please call for me if you need anything, sir." Tilapia vanished as Naruto stood in his office invisible, as Jiraiya leaned against the wall by the door.

"Hey sensei?"

"Hm? What's up? Hope you're not asking me how you look because I'm afraid I can't see past this jutsu."

"Ah no it's not that, I just need you to do me a favor." Jiraiya raised an eyebrow as he pushed himself off the wall, looking in the general area of Naruto. "Go to my apartment and grab the box of scrolls under my bed. I have a few I want to keep here in the office."

"Oh? Any reason why?"

"Let's just say, that they may be needed for some future endeavors."

* * *

Naruto was more than a bit worried as he walked out onto the street, while he had faith in the ANBU that were set on protecting him, he was still unsure about much this jutsu would actually work.

However, much to his relief, nobody noticed him as he walked out onto the streets and into the public. The jutsu might have worked a little too well, as he found himself continually weaving and waving his way through, hoping not to bump into anybody and cause a ton of confusion when they saw they ran into nothing.

Yet as the sun was at its peak, so people were going to and fro from everywhere, making it almost impossible for Naruto to dodge everyone as he finally ducked onto one of the side streets and decided to take the long route.

After taking a few turns and mentally cursing himself for almost going in a circle, Naruto came upon an interesting scene that made him tense up a little when he saw it.

Sitting on a side bench was Hinata and Shino, the both of them seemingly waiting patiently for something. However, Kiba was pacing back and forth as he suddenly yelled out "Man, this sucks! Why did Kurenai-sensei make us wait here?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he slowed down some and began walking past them, worry creeping into his brain since they were the best tracking team of all the new Gennin, yet none of them seemed to notice him as he began walking by.

"Like seriously, don't you guys think it sucks that we have to sit here and just wait?" Naruto wondered what they were waiting for, especially since he had assigned them to follow through with the peace agreement he had been able to forge with Suna "Like, it makes you wonder what they're talking about doesn't it? What do you think it is Hinata?"

Naruto saw Hinata shrink down a little as the conversation with Kurenai from earlier entered into his head, almost making him give an outward sigh before restraining himself. Naruto kept walking until he was entirely past them; the last thing he heard was Hinata giving a meek 'huh.'

" _I wonder what they're waiting on? It sounds like Kurenai forced them to stay here for some reason, I wonder what for?"_

Naruto didn't really have time to ponder the question as he kept walking, thoughts of Sakura and Sasuke entering his mind.

" _Well regardless, I have other matters to attend to at the moment, like telling two of my best friends that I'm now Hokage…"_ Once he was far enough away, Naruto did give an outward sigh as he kept walking towards the hospital.

As the Hospital came into view, Naruto suddenly felt a sudden pit form in the bottom of his stomach, as if everything he had ever eaten in his life suddenly vanished. It was a type of nervousness he hadn't felt since his exam to become a genin, and it was also a type of nervousness that wanted to consume him.

Despite that, Naruto kept walking until he was in front of the hospital, civilians and shinobi going in and out of the building, carrying the usual such as flowers or homemade meals.

Naruto scanned over the front of the hospital until he saw Kakashi leaning against the wall a few feet from the door, reading the book he always carried around with him. Taking a deep breath, and making sure the area was somewhat clear, Naruto ran over to Kakashi as he lowly spoke "Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi didn't look up from his book as he responded: "So you're here, took you longer than I expected."

"Sorry, had to take a few side roads to avoid running into someone by accident."

"Well that explains it, you were always a bit clumsy."

"H-Hey I am...W-Well anyway, what's the plan?" Kakashi shifted a bit as his eye looked over to the entrance.

"Head inside, and you should see Inoichi standing beside the receptionist's desk, whisper to him that it's you and he will lead you to the floor with Sasuke's room, where the ANBU can safely dispel the jutsu on you since the Jonin has it closed off. The receptionists have been told of the plan, so they don't allow any family members onto that floor for the time being."

"Inoichi? Oh right, he's Ino's father right?"

"Yeah, that's him, also don't refer to yourself as Naruto, if anything refer to yourself as the Hokage. It's just a safety procedure; that's all."

"Alright, got it...Wait a minute; I thought you were going to be joining me Kakashi-sensei?"

"What are you talking about? I'm already up there." On cue, Kakashi suddenly vanished into a puff of smoke, Naruto immediately recognizing the jutsu.

"A shadow clone huh? Well, if Kakashi-sensei is already up there, then maybe he's already eased them into the news? Maybe…?" As the gravity of the situation got heavier and heavier, Naruto gulped as he walked over towards the door and entered into the hospital.

* * *

As soon as Naruto came into the hospital, the smell of medicine and freshly picked flowers filled his nostrils as low talking and papers being flipped could be heard.

Naruto immediately noticed Inoichi standing beside the receptionist's desk as he scanned the area, almost like a hawk as many of the people in the waiting room avoided his gaze, his reputation as an interogist widely known.

Naruto made his way over to Inoichi, carefully avoiding people and objects until he was right beside him as he leaned up and whispered: "Inoichi, it's me, the Hokage."

Inoichi didn't say anything as he pushed himself off the wall, making the receptionists tense up a bit as he started walking towards the stairs, with Naruto quietly following behind him, as the receptionists whispered to one another with worried expressions, knowing that him moving was a sign the Hokage was here.

Inoichi began walking up the stairs with Naruto close behind, carefully looking behind each corner to make sure no one was coming down as they continued up, the more floors they passed, the fewer people passed by, until finally, they reached the level that housed Sasuke's room.

As soon as Naruto saw the hallway, he was surprised at how many Jonin were actually present. Several ANBU agents were also present as they stood at angels to make sure each section of the floor was covered.

As soon as Inoichi stepped onto the floor, everyone suddenly tensed up, and soon enough, Tilapia appeared as she spoke: "Hokage-sama, do I have permission to lift the technique?"

"Yeah, it's fine now." She nodded as she formed the hand sign, and soon Naruto came back into the field of view.

As soon as he could be seen, all of the ANBU quickly went down onto a knee in front of him, while the Jonin all gave bows towards him. Naruto still wasn't used to such displays as he felt his face heat up, as he mentally cursed himself for not having his hat on as he started walking forward.

Everyone kept their eyes on Naruto until he appeared in front of Sasuke's room, which had been guarded by two ANBU who were on their knees as Naruto approached.

Taking one last gulp and saying a silent prayer to whoever might listen, Naruto reached forward and grabbed the door as he quickly entered into the room.

Once he was in the room, he immediately saw Kakashi on the wall right in front of the door, as Kakashi immediately eyed Naruto when he entered "Ah, finally decided to show up Naruto?"

Naruto gave a small awkward laugh as he closed the door behind him quickly to hide the kneeling ANBU as he slowly crept forward until he was right at the cutoff wall as he saw fully into the room.

He looked over as Sakura immediately smiled at him and spoke "Hey Naruto! I'm glad to see they let you through!"

"Let me through?"

"Yeah! Apparently, the entire hospital has been on lockdown because of a few escaped patients, so Kakashi-sensei has been forcing us to stay in here until they give the signal for us to leave." Naruto cast a glance towards Kakashi, who had his ever casual look as Naruto returned it to Sakura.

"I-I see, y-yeah they didn't really say anything about that, though maybe I should have found it weird that they gave me an escort up here, ehehe...hehe…"

Sakura nodded as her eyes noticed Naruto's new clothes making her use a questioning tone "Huh? What's with the new clothes?"

"Oh, these? I-I just thought It would be nice to try something different, that's all…"

"I guess, you always did wear that Orange sweatshirt and pants, though I don't really know if blue works for your or not, especially with that cloak." Naruto felt his pride take a hit as he tried to ignore Sakura's comments.

"W-Well, how's Sasuke?"

Sakura returned to her earlier good mood as she leaned back "Well, why don't you ask him?"

When Sakura leaned back, she revealed Sasuke, who was leaning his back against the wall as he gave a low smirk to Naruto "I hate to say it, but I have to agree, blue really isn't your style dobe."

Naruto would have felt his pride take another hit, but the relief of seeing Sasuke OK easily made up for it as he gave a huge smile towards him "Sasuke! I'm glad to see you're doing OK!"

Sasuke kept his smirk as he shrugged "It was just some sand, nothing as simple as that is going to take me down."

"Well, I'm glad to hear! It was a tough fight for sure, but I'm glad we were able to take him down together!"

"Heh, I would have taken him out on my own if it wasn't for that surprise attack, but I guess thanks for backing me up." Though Sasuke used a somewhat superior tone, he also mixed in a bit of sarcasm as Naruto kept his smile.

"Yeah, anytime…"

"So, Kakashi-sensei, what's the plan?" Sasuke looked at Kakashi who just raised an eyebrow.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I mean are we going to launch a counterattack? If we are, then I want to be involved, especially since I want to fight Gaara again!" Sasuke had venom leak through; obviously, he wasn't done with Gaara as he hated the fact he had to be helped in his first fight, though he would never outright admit it.

Kakashi just kept his look on Sasuke as he spoke "Well...About that…"

Kakashi looked over towards Naruto, who felt more sweat run down his face as he gulped.

"Would you like to explain it Naruto?" Sasuke and Sakura looked at each on confusion before they looked over at Naruto, who had a nervous look on his face.

"Yeah, I guess I should…"

"Wait; explain what?" Sakura looked back over towards Kakashi as she spoke, confusion obvious in her voice "What should Naruto explain sensei?"

"Sakura." Kakashi didn't even look at her as he kept his stare on Naruto "Please don't speak until Naruto has spoken."

Sakura was surprised at the words as she meekly turned back towards Naruto, who was giving a small smile as he looked at the ground. Taking one final deep breath, Naruto looked up at them "Well, Sasuke...You don't know this but...The old man, Sarutobi-sama, died during the attack."

Sasuke was a bit caught off by this as a somewhat surprised look appeared on his face before his more casual look took over "The Hokage was killed?"

"Yeah, his funeral is due to take place in a few days. However, the Daimyo wasted no time in picking a successor, as the Fifth Hokage has already been chosen and approved."

"The Fifth huh?" Naruto nodded as he stepped out a bit, still not showing his full body as he continued.

"Yeah, The Fifth Hokage. They're someone you know actually, someone we all know."

"You know who it is?"

"Yeah, I do actually."

"Wait a minute!" Sakura yelled out as she looked at Naruto in confusion "How do you know who the Hokage is Naruto? Just yesterday we were all talking and-"

"Sakura! I said not to speak while Naruto is speaking!" Sakura looked over at Kakashi with a bit of fear in her eyes, not knowing why Kakashi was so aggressive in his tone.

"That's enough Kakashi! She has a right to ask questions; I did decide to tell them." Both Sasuke and Sakura were shocked at Naruto not only referring to Kakashi by name only but also the tone he used.

However, what shocked them even more was how Kakashi responded "Right, sorry...Sir…"

"S-Sir? W-Whats going on here?" Sakura was incredibly confused as she looked between Naruto and Kakashi "Naruto, how can you talk like that to sensei? A-And Kakashi-sensei, w-why did you call Naruto sir?"

Kakashi didn't say anything as Naruto gave a small smile towards Sakura as he picked back up "Sakura, Sasuke, the only way I can answer that, is by showing you."

Taking one more deep breath, Naruto walked entirely out, and after looking over their confused faces, Naruto clenched his fists as he turned around.

Immediately Sakura's eyes went wide as she moved her hands up and over her mouth, while Sasuke just stared, disbelief in his eyes; the two of them doing so because of the Kanji and the hat on Naruto's back.

"Sakura...Sasuke...I am the Fifth Hokage of Konoha!" The two of them just kept staring at the back of Naruto, neither of them saying anything as shock and disbelief had hit them like a ton of bricks.

Sakura had her hands over her mouth as she tried to stifle any shouts of shock or excitement, while Sasuke just looked at Naruto's back with not only disbelief but also with a sense that this wasn't real.

Kakashi just stared at them as he awaited their responses, knowing that the shock could provoke them to do something stupid, or rather, cause Sasuke to do something stupid.

The seconds that passed felt like minutes as Naruto had closed his eyes, waiting for them to speak first, he owed them that much at the very least.

The silence was finally broken as Sakura slowly lowered her hands from her mouth, which was still agape as she struggled to find the right words "T-This...K-Kakashi-sensei, this has to be a joke…"

Sakura looked over at Kakashi with a voice that sounded like it didn't know whether or not to be excited or not, like if Sakura was trying to decide what feelings she should be feeling at the moment.

Kakashi didn't say anything, as he knew that words wouldn't get fully through to them. So instead, Kakashi placed his fist over his chest in salute as he dropped to one knee as he faced Naruto, making Sakura go even more wide-eyed as she slowly turned her head back to Naruto.

"N-Naruto, y-you...T-The Fifth Hokage…?"

"...Yeah, I'm the Fifth Hokage Sakura." Sakura barely listened to the words from Naruto as she tried to comprehend what she had just seen, heard and learned in the span of only a few minutes; if even that. Sakura just shook her head, not wanting to believe the reality that was right in front of her.

"T-That can't be true...N-Naruto, y-you're just a genin…" Naruto didn't say anything as Kakashi looked up from his bow towards Naruto and spoke.

"Hokage-sama." The words from Kakashi sunk deep into Sakura and Sasuke as the reality started to hit them even harder "We prepared some guests in the event of this type of reaction, with your permission, we're willing to let them in here. It should be noted that we told them about your promotion; however, we're more than willing to remove that memory should you deem them not needed."

Naruto didn't hesitate as replied, "Send them in."

Kakashi nodded as he clapped his hands together, the signal they had come up with if anybody was needed as the door to the room opened and one of the Jonin walked in before immediately kneeling. Kakashi looked at the kneeling jonin as he spoke: "Send witness pair one in."

"Understood!" The jonin got up and quickly left the room as nobody spoke, the gravity of everything weighing heavy until a knock was heard on the doors as the jonin reappeared. "Hokage-sama! May I present Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno!"

Sakura quickly looked over as she heard the names as two individuals walked in, the both of them stopping as Mebuki was mouth agape when she saw Naruto, whispering to her husband "The yellow flash…"

Kizashi didn't respond for a moment until he brought himself back into reality as he shook his head "Hey, just because he has golden hair, doesn't mean he's the Fourth haha."

Kizashi laughed as he patted his wife's shoulder, knocking her out of her own trance as she shot him a glare "I know that! But the resemblance is uncanny!"

"Mom? Dad?" Sakura interrupted their little banter as she looked at them, confusion still fully entrenched on her face as she stared at them "W-What are you doing here?"

Kizashi gave a smile as he walked over to his daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder "Well, it's a bit of a long story, and I still don't quite know the details myself, but from what I've been told, it seems that your teammate was named the Fifth Hokage of our village."

"T-That's what I see, and that's what I hear, but I can't believe it…"

"What can't you believe dear?" Mebuki walked over to Sakura and gave her a reassuring smile; she could only imagine the emotions her daughter was currently going through.

"I mean, how can they name Naruto, Hokage?"

"Oh come now dear, you've known Naruto ever since you two were put on the same team. Surely you know how strong he must be, I mean, after all, I heard that he's the one who finished off that sand monster that Suna had with them."

Sasuke clenched his hands when he heard Mebuki's words, yet the only one who noticed was Kakashi. Sakura just slowly shook her head as she tried to speak lowly "It's not strength...I-It's, what you and dad always told me about Naruto…"

Naruto heard Sakura faintly as he stayed still, pain flicking through his heart, yet he now knew the reason, and he couldn't say anything. Mebuki bit down on her lip as she looked at her husband with a look that scared him "Well dear, I think you better tell her."

"A-Ah right. However, the rule throughout the village was that we weren't allowed to speak on the matter…" Kizashi looked back at Naruto, who had still not turned around yet spoke anyway.

"A lot of things are going to change now that I'm Hokage, so you can go ahead and tell her. Oh and also…" Naruto looked back at the couple with a smile of genuine happiness as he spoke: "Thanks for calling me the Yellow Flash; it's nice to be compared to my dad."

Sakura, knowing who the Yellow Flash was thanks to her history books and how much her mother had boasted about him, again was shell shocked when she heard that from Naruto. Mebuki wasn't any better as her own eyes went wide as she struggled to speak "D-Dad? T-The Yellow Flash?"

Kizashi on the other hand just smirked as he looked back at Naruto "So, they finally told you?"

"Y-You knew?" Mebuki looked up at Kizashi who just gave a low laugh.

"Being a ninja gets you some pretty interesting information." Giving another laugh, he turned back to Sakura as a semi-serious look took over his face "Sakura, ever since you were young, we've told you to never go near Naruto. We told you that he was someone you didn't want to associate with, someone to never talk to, someone to never have anything to do with, right?"

"Y-Yeah, that's right."

"We even doubled down on that when you came complaining that he called you cute, right?"

"R-Right…"

Guilt appeared on Kizashi's face as he sighed "The truth is, the reason we didn't want you to associate with him is a reason that I have never agreed with, yet it was something we foolishly tried to push on to you and into your head."

"W-What do you mean?" Kizashi bit down on his lip as the silence in the room tried to become deafening.

"Thirteen years ago, a nine tails fox, the Kyuubi, attacked our village. Your mother was still pregnant with you, so you weren't even alive for it. However, one person was not only alive for it, but they were actually born on that day. That person was the Fifth Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki." Kizashi glanced back before he continued "We don't know the full details about Naruto, but we do know that his mother, Kushina Uzumaki; the wife of the Fourth Hokage, was the one who held the Kyuubi inside of her."

"Inside of her? What do you mean?"

"What I mean is this, she was what we call a jinchuuriki, a person who has one of the nine tailed beasts sealed inside of them. This was done to protect the world from the beast's rampage, while also giving the village an invaluable weapon should war ever come. However, the seal broke, and the Kyuubi rampaged through the village, killing the Fourth Hokage in the process."

"I-I see, so that's why the demon attacked us, I-I never knew."

"Of course you didn't, because after the Third came back into power, he ordered for any mention of Kushina being the jinchuuriki to be wiped, and never to be mentioned to anyone ever again. He hoped that people would eventually forget about the incident and to eventually let Naruto live a peaceful life where people no longer blamed him for the attack."

"Blamed him for the attack; why did people blame Naruto?"

"Well, for a few reasons actually. The main one being that the reason the seal broke, was because Kushina gave birth, and her child was Naruto. The clans knew this, and many shinobi knew this, including me. However, the third instructed us never to tell Naruto who his parents were. The hope was that Naruto would live like any other normal child, but...That didn't happen."

"If that was the hope, then why did you and mom tell me not to ever associate with him?" Kizashi and Mebuki looked at each other with guilty looks as Kizashi gulped.

"It's because of the higher ups. Many ninja held a grudge towards Naruto, as they blamed him for the Kyuubi attack; however, many of the higher-ups seemed to hold an even bigger grudge for some reason. They pressured not only the shinobi, but also the average civilian not to associate with Naruto, and ran a very successful smear campaign against him, that made people who didn't even know Naruto hate him. This ran to the kids as well, as many of us were forced to feed you lies in hopes that Naruto would live alone, never to have any friends and eventually lose his will."

"T-That's terrible…"

"Yeah, and I felt guilty every single day I had to come up with more and more lies to tell you. Hell, I felt guilty when I saw him eating alone, and I couldn't even go say something to him, because I never knew when a set of eyes might be watching from a distance. One wrong mistake, and I could have everything, including you, taken from me. I could never risk it...Nobody could ever risk it; that's why many of us fed you more and more lies."

Sakura just stared at her dad with mixed emotions, tears in her eyes yet she didn't know why. Perhaps it was because she considered Naruto as a sort of friend, so it was horrible to hear something like that? Or maybe it was because her parents had lied to her all her life, and it took something as drastic as Naruto becoming Hokage for them to admit the truth? She honestly didn't know, though if she was honest with herself, it was a mixture of both.

"Sakura, I hope you can forgive me for all the lies I had told you. Your mother was forced to go along with it, so she's not at fault, yet I am…" Kizashi turned around fully as he gulped "Nar-...Hokage-sama, I sincerely apologize! If I hadn't fallen for the fear tactics of the higher-ups, then maybe you and Sakura could have become friends, or even something more!"

Sakura had a tint of pink appear when she heard her dad speak, yet Naruto only smiled as replied "I can't blame you to be honest, in just the few hours I've been Hokage, I've learned just how much power someone in my position wields. While I don't know about other top officials, I'm sure they also hold power beyond the average shinobi. You did nothing wrong Kizashi; you put your family. First, I can't blame you for that. If I had a family, I would most certainly do the same thing."

"Hokage-sama…"Kizashi, usually willing to break a tense moment with a joke, just looked down as he clenched his fists, as his wife placed her hand on his shoulder and spoke.

"Dear, we're both at fault, don't try to take the blame fully onto yourself." Despite her words, Kizashi just kept staring down as all the memories ran through his mind, all the decisions he wished he had done differently.

Sakura just stared at her dad with tears on her face as she stood up and placed a hand on his other other shoulder "D-Dad, I-I forgive you."

"Even if you do, it won't change the past." Kizashi bit down on his lip, his family trying to console him, when…

"Kizashi, are you a shinobi of Konoha?" Naruto was the one to speak as Kizashi looked up at him, confusion on his face as he nodded.

"I'm not on active duty anymore, but yes, I'm always ready should I be called upon." Naruto turned partway around as he crossed his arms and gave him a sideways look.

"Then you need to act like one and lead by example for your daughter."

"A-Act like one?"

"Yeah...I already told you, I don't blame you for putting the safety of your family first and you shouldn't either. Despite what many people may think, I did have friends when I was growing up. In fact, not only did I have friends, but I had a sensei who looked after me and encouraged me every step along the way. If you continue to blame yourself, then you're failing as both a father and a shinobi. You have to move forward, after all…" Naruto turned fully back around as he gave a smile to the family "I consider Sakura as one of my dearest friends, so obviously you did something right."

Sakura's eyes went wide as Kizashi stared at Naruto with sunken eyes before he closed them and gritted his teeth as he opened them back up, full of determination "Hokage-sama! I understand!"

Kizashi dropped to one knee as Sakura stared at him, and after a moment Mebuki followed suit as Sakura just took a step back to look at her parents, before she looked up and locked eyes with Naruto, a smile on his face as she felt butterflies in her stomach "Sakura, you and your parents should go on home for the day. You all need to soak in the information and also talk to one another, as I get the feeling you have many questions."

Sakura just kept staring at Naruto as so many things raced through her mind, as just minutes ago, Naruto was the goofy dork who had a few cool moments, but not only was he nothing compared to Sasuke, he was also a monster her parents had warned her about.

But now? Naruto was the leader of her village, and he was someone that had called her one of his closest friends. He was someone with determination and never held a grudge; he was someone who fought for his beliefs; he was someone you could depend on. He was someone that defeated Gaara who Sasuke had lost against; he was someone her parents had lied about for years because of background politics…

He was the Fifth Hokage of Konoha.

Sakura eventually recomposed herself as she slowly nodded, both of her parents getting up as Kizashi turned around and placed a hand on Sakura "Let's go home for today Sakura."

Sakura looked at her parents and nodded, the two of them walking towards the door as they each gave a bow towards Naruto when they walked past him.

When Sakura got to Naruto, she just stared at him as he smiled at her "Sakura, continue to improve as a ninja and don't hold a grudge against your parents. Especially if you want to impress a certain someone."

Naruto looked back at Sasuke, though Sakura just kept staring at him as she just gulped and nodded as she left, taking more and more looks back until she was out of the room and the door had closed.

As soon as Sakura and her family had left, the only people remaining were Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke. Sasuke just kept his look of disbelief as he had clenched his hands together and gritted his teeth, a sense of shock resonating through his body.

Naruto just looked at Sasuke as he closed his eyes once again and spoke "Kakashi, can you leave us alone?"

"Hm? I've been assigned as your personal bodyguard, leaving you alone-"

"It's fine; I'll call you if I need you." Kakashi just looked at Naruto with a somewhat worried look before he just nodded and pushed himself up, walking by Naruto to leave, but not before whispering to him.

"If anything happens, we'll be in here right away." Naruto didn't say anything as Kakashi walked on by and out of the room, leaving the two friends alone as neither of them said anything, neither knowing what the right words to say would be.

Naruto opened his eyes as his arms fell to his side as gave a smile "Sasuke I-"

"Naruto." Sasuke interrupted Naruto, causing him to quiet down and lose his smile "Was what that woman said true? The part about you defeating Gaara by yourself?"

"Well, he was in a weakened state when I finally caught up to the two of you. However, not long after me and you joined up, you were knocked out, and I had to finish him off." Sasuke narrowed his gaze as he leaned his head back and looked Naruto in the eyes, confusion rampant throughout his face.

"He still had plenty of energy left when we were fighting, I thought I just didn't remember most of the fight, but if it was because I was knocked out, then that means you finished my battle for me," Sasuke spoke with disdain in his voice, something that wasn't lost on Naruto.

"Sasuke, I was only able to win because you had been able to weaken Gaara. Remember, I just had my match with Neji, so it's not like I was fully healthy or anything. If you hadn't fought him first, then I would have never been able to beat him."

"You say that, but it's obvious that the village recognizes your strength over mine. After all, you were named Hokage."

Naruto sighed as he shook his head "I asked Kakashi-sensei, and according to him, plenty of people were stronger than me and more than likely more qualified than me. I'm sure you're one of them Sasuke; I was just named Hokage because they say they see a lot of potential in me."

"So, you're saying they see none in me then."

"That's not what I'm saying at all Sasuke. Hell, I'm sure not only you, but guys like Shikamaru, Neji, Lee, or even someone like Ino might have more potential than I do. They all have bloodlines just like you, but I have nothing like that. I don't have any special abilities; everything I know is through years of training and hard work! Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they chose me just to keep tabs on me."

"Hm? Keep tabs on you?"

"Yeah...As Sakura's dad mentioned, my mother held the Kyuubi inside of her, and the reason it escaped was because she gave birth to me. Yet what happened to the Kyuubi? While it's true that the Fourth defeated it at the cost of his life, they never revealed what happened to the fox demon itself. The truth of the matter is that I became the new holder of the Kyuubi."

"You?" Sasuke had some genuine surprise appear on his face as Naruto nodded.

"I was always called a demon growing up, and everyone around me always hated me and called me names or attacked me. Yet the worst reactions I got were when people just ignored me and acted like I didn't exist. I always wondered why this was, as not even the old man would tell me. Then one night, Iruka-sensei was being attacked thanks to me being tricked, and I suddenly felt a surge of power run through me, allowing me to channel hundreds of shadow clones to save him. The same thing happened on the bridge when Haku attacked you, a sudden burst of hatred and power ran through me, all because I saw you on the verge of death. I always thought I had something inside of me, but I could never imagine that it was the Kyuubi."

"So when you were able to break Haku's mirrors, that was the reason why." Sasuke went quiet for a moment as he kept staring at Naruto as he looked through his memories "The last thing I remember during the fight against Gaara, was that you summoned a Giant Toad before it suddenly turned into the Kyuubi. Was that you releasing the demon?"

"No, that was just a simple transformation jutsu. We needed something fast and powerful, so the Kyuubi was the first thing that popped into my mind. I still don't know why since I really didn't know the beast until now, but if I had to guess, it was because the monster inside of me was the cause."

"I see…" Sasuke didn't know what to think as Naruto talked to him, he was initially displeased with himself because if Naruto became Hokage, that would mean Naruto had surpassed him in terms of strength, yet the more Naruto talked, the more it sounded like it was more so because of the Kyuubi than Naruto, but…"Still, they can't just name you Hokage because of one fight or potential; they have to have a bigger sample size."

"Yeah, I've thought about that. But the more I think about it, the more confused I get as to why they named me Hokage. Who knows, maybe this is all one big genjutsu placed on me, and I'm just home right now sleeping away? Whatever the case, I have a duty to fulfill now."

"Naruto, no matter what you think, just remember that I am and always will be stronger than you." Naruto looked at Sasuke with a surprised look as Sasuke continued "After all, now that you've become Hokage, you need someone to chase after so you don't get complacent."

Sasuke had a smirk appear on his face as Naruto kept looking at him with a surprised look before a small laugh escaped his lips "Sasuke, at the end of the day, I'm still the same Naruto. I may have a great title and some fancy clothes, but I'm still who I've always been. Meaning you're still my best friend and my greatest rival, don't forget that!"

Sasuke kept his smirk as he shrugged "Well, you're still a dobe. Though, perhaps Dobe-sama would better fit now?"

Naruto couldn't help but let out another laugh as he returned the shrug "If you call me Dobe-sama, then you better be on one knee when you say it."

"Heh, we'll see about that." The two of them gave little laughs as Naruto turned towards the door, stuffing his hands into his pocket.

"I have some things to attend to, but Sasuke, when you're healthy, let's do some training together, been a while after all."

"Alright, though it might be a bad look when the Hokage can't keep up with me during training."

"Well guess I can't hold back then huh?" Naruto waved goodbye as he left the room, leaving Sasuke by himself.

Once he was alone, Sasuke clenched his hands together as he muttered "Dammit…"

* * *

As soon as Naruto left the room, all of the ANBU kneeled towards him as Kakashi walked over "How did it go?"

"Well, I think it went well. Much less crying than when Sakura if anything." Naruto gave a small laugh as he began walking to the stairs with Kakashi in toil "Man am I tired though, from having to get up early to having that ceremony to just everything else."

"Well it is your first day on the job after all, so it's going to take some getting used to. Don't push yourself too hard; we can't have the new Hokage passing out on after all." Naruto chuckled as the pair stopped at the stairs leading down as the jonin began to follow him. "In any case, you have a busy day tomorrow so it might be best to go ahead and take the rest of the day off."

"Huh? What's tomorrow?"

"Well first off is that you're going to be meeting with the village elders, they had tried to go around talking to you by requesting either Jiraiya or me, but the jonin didn't allow it for obvious reasons. The elders were the Thirds personal advisors, so I'm sure they're going to go do everything they can to make sure they have as much of an influence on you as they can."

"You talk like that's a bad thing."

"Well, let's just say that a lot of the jonin are hoping for you to bring in some fresh blood so to say."

"I see, well guess that's something else I need to get started on doing."

"Yeah, also tomorrow is the last day of the private viewing for Sarutobi-sama's body."

"Private viewing?" Naruto looked at Kakashi with a questioning look, not knowing what he was talking about.

"For the past three days, Sarutobi-sama's body has been kept at his private home for the family members to pay respect to. Tomorrow is the last day it will be kept there until it's moved to the Hokage Manor for the public viewing in three days, with the day after that being the funeral."Naruto nodded as he crossed his arms and began to think, with one person directly coming to mind.

Konohamaru.

Naruto viewed the kid as sort of an apprentice; after all, he did teach him both the shadow clone and the harem jutsu. Usually, Naruto saw him running around causing trouble with his friends, but ever since the attack, he's been absent from the public view.

Naruto bit down on his lip as he looked up Kakashi "Would it be inappropriate for me to visit the family?"

"I wouldn't have brought it up it was. They know a new Hokage has just been named, so I'm sure they would be happy to see the thirds successor pay him respects with them. You don't have to; of course, you have plenty of paperwork that needs to be done after all." Naruto went white when he heard the paperwork line as he quickly shook his head.

"A-Ah no, I'm more than happy to visit them! Ehehe...Hehe...Oh, but I do want to talk to one of them before then."

"I'm guessing it's the thirds grandchild?"

"Yeah." Naruto thought for a moment until he called out "Dragon!"

A puff of smoke appeared as Dragon was kneeling beside Naruto "Yes! Hokage-sama!?"

"Do you know where Konohamaru Sarutobi is currently located?"

"Lord! The Honorable Grandson Of The Third Hokage is currently on top of Hokage Rock sir! More specifically, he's sitting on top of the Third Hokage's mural." Naruto nodded, he would be a bit more weirded out that Dragon answered right away, but he had already learned the ANBU weren't regular shinobi.

"Alright then. I'm heading there now to meet with him."

"Lord! I must inform you that he's currently there with his class. In honor of Sarutobi-sama, the chunin Iruka Umino has taken them there to give a history lesson on Sarutobi-sama's life and how he became Hokage! However, Konohamaru went to the Thirds Mural and sat down by himself."

Naruto had a painful look in his eye as he nodded "Alright, well let them be. Iruka already knows about my promotion thanks to earlier so we won't have to hide anything, just make sure the kids don't see the back of my cloak."

"Lord!" Dragon vanished in a puff of smoke as Naruto undid his hat from around his waist and placed it in his cloak to hide it.

"Well, let's go Kakashi."

"How do you plan on getting there? You can take the cloak off as you mentioned before, be the easiest thing to do."

"Well, I want to wear this and keep it on when I talk to Konohamaru, so I'll just use the invisible jutsu again."

"Well, if that's what you want."

"Yeah, alright, let's go!"

* * *

"Alright everyone, stay in the circle; you might fall if you run out!" Iruka yelled to the children as they all played together, their lesson for the day being practically over. While some of them played games such as ninja, especially the boys, others preferred to play house, especially the girls; with some exceptions.

As Iruka watched over them with a smile, he didn't notice the footsteps behind him until a voice rang out "Hey Iruka-sensei!"

"Oh hey Naruto...Naruto!?" It took a moment for Iruka to catch on to the fact something was off with Naruto being here, especially with him now being the Hokage. "W-What are you doing here? A-And what's with the outfit change?"

"It's...Kind of a long story so far, but long story short, these are the clothes I'll be wearing as Hokage from now on."

"Any reason why?"

"Again it's kind of a long story. I'll tell you when we're in a more relaxed space sometime." Iruka just nodded as he looked over the cloak Naruto had on, examining the features on it.

"That's quite the cloak you have there, what's the story behind it?'

"Heh, just look on the back!" Iruka raised an eyebrow as he walked behind and looked at the back of the cloak as his eyes suddenly went wide.

"N-Naruto! Y-You're practically telling the whole world you're Ho-" Iruka slapped his own hand on his mouth before he bent down and whispered, "That you're Hokage."

"It's fine; I walked over here invisible thanks to some genjutsu I believe. I'm also not worried about the kids because it seems they're playing right now. Besides, can they even read Kanji?"

"Hm? Not that I'm aware of, Academy Rules state that Kanji is only to be taught the year before their ninja test, so they'll learn next year. Ah! That's why you're not worried then!"

"Right, though I've still instructed the ANBU to hide the back of my cloak from the kids, just in case."

"Well, you're not here to see the kids, that much is obvious. So what are you doing here, just enjoying the view?"

"Hardly, I came here for-" Before Naruto could finish, two voices ran out towards him.

"Naruto!" Naruto and Iruka both looked over as two of the students ran towards them as Naruto gave a big smile.

"Udon! Moegi!" Naruto gave a smile as they both ran up to them as a heavy feeling hit their shoulders, causing them both to look at each other and shrug it off, not realizing it was the ANBU's genjutsu.

"What are you doing here Naruto, have you finally decided to play ninja with us?" Moegi spoke as she seemed ready to go, still holding Naruto to his promise of him someday playing ninja with her and her friends.

"Y-Yeah Naruto, you come to play?" Udon quietly spoke afterward as Naruto just kept his smile on them as he stuffed his hands into his cloak's pockets.

"Sorry guys, not today, I came here for some other reason actually."

"Some other reason? Does it have anything to do with that new cloak of yours? Like, are you going to take a really cool picture or something?" Moegi seemed ready to participate in whatever Naruto was planning, yet again Naruto just shook his head.

"Sorry but it's not that either. I actually came here to see Konohamaru."

"Oh...I see...Well, good luck then. He hasn't talked to us ever since the village was attacked, and I think it's because his grandfather died." Moegi had a sad look on her face as she spoke, making Naruto sadly nod.

"Yeah, so I've heard."

"N-Not only that, b-but whenever we try to talk to him, he e-either pushes us away or gets angry with us." Udon quietly spoke next as Naruto again nodded.

"I see, well let me try talking to him, maybe I'll be able to break through to him." Naruto looked back at Iruka as Naruto whispered towards him "Now you know why I'm here."

Iruka nodded, as he pointed towards the Thirds Head "He's over there, has been ever since we arrived."

"Thanks, I'll go talk to him." Naruto turned and walked over to the Thirds Mural, Iruka noticing the sudden disappearance of the Kanji on his back, before realizing it was because Moegi and Udon had come over.

" _I see, it's based on range, guess that's why they couldn't hide it all the way over here. Well, I hope whatever Naruto says to Konohamaru works, I hate seeing him so down. Though, I can relate to losing someone close to you."_

* * *

Naruto slowly walked over to Konohamaru, taking slow steps as sadness and regret were plastered onto his face. Saying another silent prayer to whoever would listen, Naruto walked over to him as he spoke "Hey Konohamaru."

"I said to leave me al-...Oh...Boss…" Konohamaru was about to snap as he turned around, yet his demeanor completely changed as he saw Naruto, immediately noticing the new clothes he had on "W-Why are you here?"

"Oh I was just taking a stroll, and I saw you were sitting here, so I figured I would come over and see what's up."

"Hmph, well you're wasting your time boss. I really don't feel like talking right now." Despite his words, Konohamaru seemed to look towards the spot beside him as if to motion Naruto over, which he immediately took the hint as Naruto sat down.

"Don't be like that Konohamaru; you're not one to turn away a conversation." Naruto fixed his cloak out as the two of them sat in silence, staring over the village atop of the Thirds Mural. "So, what's bothering you?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, I'm not stupid, something's bothering you. What is it?"

"It's nothing."

"Konohamaru, I'm one of your best friends aren't I? You can trust me."

"..." Konohamaru went silent for a moment before he took a sigh as he began to twiddle his fingers, trying to find the right words. "I...I feel weak boss. I feel like that no matter what I do, nobody can depend on me."

"Why do you feel like that? You've never been that way before. I mean, aren't you the one who's always screaming that you're going to be Hokage?"

"..." Konohamaru went silent again as he absently stared out to the village "How can I be Hokage when I can't even protect my own family?"

"You mean the old man?"

"Not just Gramps, everyone. I mean I couldn't protect Mom, and now she's in a wheelchair for the rest of her life! My cousins never pick me to play with them because I can't do anything, whether it play ninja with my guy cousins or cook with my girl cousins! Even Uncle Asuma doesn't let me do much. I hate being so useless!"

Konohamaru gripped his hands as Naruto stayed silent, watching quietly as a pair of birds flew overhead.

"I'm so useless, that it finally caught up. Gramps is dead, and it's all my fault. If I was stronger, I could have protected him and everybody else in the village. But instead, I was forced to retreat with my classmates."

"You can't blame yourself, the one who attacked us was Orochimaru, one of the strongest ninja in the world. Not only that, but we were also betrayed by one of our allies in Sunagakure, so the deck was stacked so matter what."

"But even still, I should have been down on the ground fighting with the others! I shouldn't have run away and retreated. I'm a disgrace to everyone." Konohamaru held back tears as he let out everything out to Naruto, who just listened and soaked everything in.

"You say that, but you can't really believe that can you? After all, your dream is to become Hokage someday isn't it? I mean, the two of us were in a race to see who could become Hokage first, yeah?"

"I don't even want the position of Hokage anymore; Gramps died because of it. I mean every Hokage so far has died while in office! It's almost like the position is cursed." Naruto looked at Konohamaru before he looked down and let out a breath.

"Then let me ask you a question if the Fire Daimyo picked you as the Fifth Hokage and the Jonnin council approved you, what would you say?"

"...That's a stupid question; they wouldn't-"

"But what if they did? What if just out the blue, with no prior warning or anything, they wanted you to continue on your grandfather's legacy, what would you say?"

"I…" Konohamaru thought over his words as he looked over Naruto "I would have to accept it…"

"Why is that?"

"Because it's my dream. But at the same time, I don't want to be Hokage anymore, yet I still do. I don't know how to describe the feeling boss." Konohamaru looked down as Naruto gave a small smile.

"Then tell me how this feels and decide." Konohamaru was about to question what Naruto meant, but all of a sudden, he felt Naruto place something on his head; and when he reached up, he felt his voice catch in his throat.

"T-This is…"

"Yeah, it's the hat your grandfather always wore." Konohamaru grabbed the hat and brought it down as he looked at it, his eyes going wide as he confirmed it was the real thing.

"B-Boss, why do you have this? Y-You didn't steal it did you!?" Konohamaru started to point at Naruto, but Naruto quickly shot him down.

"Haha, no no, I would never do something like that."

"T-Then, why do you have this?" Naruto gave another small laugh as he looked back out towards the village, Konohamaru patiently waiting for an answer.

"I just asked you didn't I? If the Fire Daimyo chose you as the Fifth Hokage and then the Jonin council approved you, what would you do?" Konohamaru eyes went wide as a thousand thoughts ran through his mind, not wanting to believe what the truth might actually be.

"Boss...Y-You…" Naruto smirked as he reached his hand out for the hat as Konohamaru allowed him to gently grab it as Naruto placed it on top of his own head.

"Konohamaru, I'm afraid I won our little contest. Because I am the Fifth Hokage and your grandfather's successor." Konohamaru just stared at Naruto in shock, not knowing what to say as the reality of the situation seemed to fake to be real.

"Boss, I-I…"

"How did it feel?"

"Huh?"

"How did it feel to wear this hat? The hat that has been worn by some of the greatest shinobi ever to grace this planet?"

"How did it feel?" Naruto nodded as Konohamaru struggled to find the words "Honestly, it just felt like a hat; it didn't feel special. But that's just because I'm not the rightful owner of the hat; I know that, because what you just told me boss, and seeing you wear it; you truly are the rightful owner of it."

"Really? You were easier to convince than Sakura and Sasuke."

"Well, don't get me wrong boss, it's kind of a far fetched claim but...That is my gramps hat. I would easily recognize a fake from the real one. You're also not one to lie to me about something like this boss, so I have no reason to doubt you!"

"I see. Then I hope you understand that I achieved my dream of becoming Hokage, meaning that you openly reject my dream, eh?"

"A-Ah no no! F-Forget what I said, I wasn't thinking right! I-I still really want to become Hokage! You may have become Hokage before me boss, but just you watch, I'll become such a good ninja, that they'll have no choice but to replace you with me!"

"Heh, I'm looking forward to it." Naruto extended his hand towards Konohamaru, who just smiled and he grasped it. "Konohamaru, I'm not the old man, and I never will be. But I hope that I'm a Hokage you can call worthy of being your Grandpa's successor."

Konohamaru was a bit taken back by the words as tears ran his face as he forced a smile "Boss, you're the only one in the world I feel comfortable with taking over from my gramps. All I ask, is that you never let the village forget about him."

"That is one promise I will never break. You have my word." Konohamaru nodded as more tears came down his face as he tried to wipe them off before Naruto pulled him into a hug "I swear, this village will never forget your grandfather."

"Thanks boss." Konohamaru wrapped his arms around Naruto as he lightly cried onto his shoulder, all the pain from everything finally getting the best of him, as he just let it all out as the sun shined brightly down on them.

* * *

The sun could be seen in the distance as it was about to set as Naruto and Kakashi were both in Naruto's apartment. While Naruto had fallen onto his bed with a long sigh, Kakashi stayed on his feet as he waited for any command Naruto might have. "Man Kakashi-sensei, today was something, I feel like I could sleep forever."

"Well I ask that you don't quite do that, after all, you have a busy day tomorrow, then the day after that...And the day after that…"

"Yeah yeah, I get it. A lot of stuff has to be done. Still though, when I'm introduced to the public, will I still be staying here in my apartment?"

"It's up to you. The Hokage Tower has living quarters in it, and Sarutobi-sama regularly used it on long nights, though he preferred going back to his actual home. Either way, you're well protected. The ANBU have marked this apartment as a no jutsu zone, so anything from a simple shadow clone, all the way to something like the Sharingan are strictly forbidden around here unless it's from authorized personnel like the Jonin."

"Man, they take their jobs really seriously don't they?"

"Well, for many of them, they were responsible for the protection of both the Third and Fourth, both of whom were killed. So for you, they're the strictest they've ever been. Of course, you can always order them not to be."

"Right right, well, while I may tone down the security, I'll always welcome it if anything."

"A smart decision." Naruto nodded as he yawned, falling right down onto his pillow.

"Well, I'm about to head to sleep sensei; what will you be doing?"

"Staying here, of course, I was named your personal bodyguard, and until you dismiss me, I'll stay by your side." Naruto glanced over at him as he gave a nervous chuckle.

"It's fine Kakashi-sensei, you can have time off you know. I mean, how long as it been since you slept?"

"Oh, I would say a few days I guess."

"A few days? Really?"

"For Shinobi, sleep is one thing you have to learn to live without. Of course, I've seen my share of battlefields and bloodshed, so I'm just more experienced in that area."

"Well, it's still unhealthy. Kakashi-sensei, you are allowed to have the nights off! I trust the ANBU enough after all."

"Well, if you say so." Kakashi reached inside of his vest and pulled out his book as he began walking towards the door "I'll be here when you wake up and lead you to the elders, after that, we have the Sarutobi family memorial."

"Right, I understand." Kakashi nodded as he opened the door and left the room, leaving the young Hokage alone in his bed as he sighed "I never knew how much work you had to put in after achieving your dream, I thought all the work came before? Still speaking of work, I wonder how the others are doing with their missions?"

* * *

_Water Country_

"All rise for his highness!" All of the Shinobi saluted as the doors opened and the Water Daimyo walked out of his room and to the giant council table in the middle of the room, his personal council on one side and shinobi from Kirigakure on the other.

Once the Daimyo sat down, everyone dropped their salutes as the man who had introduced the Daimyo pulled out a scroll and began reading from it.

"Now, Shinobi of Kirigakure! You have been called here to hear Daimyo-sama's choice for the Fifth Mizukage of Kiri, since the Fourth Mizukage passed away over a month ago. As always the Daimyo's decision is final, and any objections will be met as an act of treason."

The man folded the scroll as the Water Daimyo coughed into his hand and began speaking "As you know, Kiri has a rather dreadful reputation with the rest of the world at the moment due to the actions of the Fourth. While many Shinobi from the village welcomed such a reign, I believe it to be best for the village to move in a different direction."

"I thought long and hard about who I wished to lead the village, it would have to be someone of great strength, most certainly. However, it also has to be someone who is willing to move away from the era known as the 'Bloody Mist' and look for a brighter future."

"So, after much deliberation and the such; I have finally made my choice." The water Daimyo let out a sigh as a long pause followed before he lifted his hand and pointed at one of the shinobi who had been asked to attend the meeting.

"Mei Terumi, I name you the Fifth Mizukage of Kirigakure!"


	9. Konoha Recovery Arc III:Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sungakure awaits, Guy and Kurenai have to not only prepare their teams, but also the prisoners as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was originally meant to be one chapter, however the length of it made me split it up; extending this arc a bit more. Thankfully I was expecting this so my current plans for when everything should start happening is still set. But welcome everybody to another chapter! I hope you all enjoy as some more plot important points are dropped in this chapter along with a few other things; such as some foreshadowing at future relationships.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and the next chapter should be out within another week or two! As always, feel free to suggest some things along with the regular criticism! I'll see you all next chapter!

_Sunagakure-Hours After Council Meeting_

"Damn that Baki! He's trying to get in favor with the Head Councilman, I just know it!" One of the council members banged his fist against the wall as he yelled out to another one of the members right across from him as the two had been cursing out how the meeting left.

Both Members were apart of the "Black Scorpions" faction, so it wasn't all that surprising.

In Suna, ever since the days of the Second Kazekage and especially the Third Kazekage, the village council had been split into two factions.

The first faction, known as 'The Black Scorpions', were Warhawks beyond belief. Their ultimate goal was to make Suna into the grandest Village of them all, and eventually take control over all the other hidden villages and installing puppet Kage's that would directly answer to them. They had been in power during the reigns of both the Second and Third Kazekage.

The second faction was formed after the downfall of the short-lived "Black Willow" Faction, whose original goal was to overthrow all the Daimyo's and Kage's and have the Kazekage rule them all. However, this group was short lived as many members were called for treason for wanting overthrow even the Wind Daimyo while other members wanted a more peaceful reign.

The fall lead to the Second Main Faction, 'The Red Scorpions', who wanted a more central system where things would stay how they were and help establish alliances with the other nations and villages. They weren't against war, but they saw it as a last resort type of move.

While the Black Scorpions gained control with the Second Kazekage and maintained it with the Third, the Red Scorpions were successful in blocking the nomination of the original Fourth Kazekage, forcing them to compromise and approve Rasa as the Fourth Kazekage.

This move did lead to public disdain for the faction due to the war they were currently in at the time, and the Black Scorpions continued to search for the Third Kazekage years after the fact in an attempt to gain power again, but to avail.

However, when the Fourth Kazekage was struck down, many members saw an opening to regain control of the Kage position, and their first step was to continue a war with Konoha to force the Wind Daimyo to quickly select a successor and also push the Red Scorpions to approve him from public pressure.

However, their plans were thwarted thanks to Baki and the Head Councilman Yuki, both of whom wanted peace with Konoha. This was an absurd thought to them, mainly since Konoha's new Hokage was just a kid!

So the two men had been discussing a backup plan to make sure the faction still got what they wanted, and after hours of talking, they finally came to a plan. "It's perfect! When the Konoha dogs arrive here; we'll attack them with our full force. Once they retaliate, the other shinobi will have no choice but to strike them down! Blame will quickly spread to both sides, and the war can continue!"

"Excellent! Should the Head Councilman and Baki still try to force peace, then the public will quickly turn on them, and we should be able to gather enough support to vote in a new head councilman and kick Baki off of the council!"

"Correct, we'll start by slaying all of the Konoha prisoners afterward to raise public morale and support for the war!"

"Alright, we'll be back in power in no time!" As the two council members spoke to one another, they didn't notice the sand that was quickly closing in on them from a red-headed figure that was watching them from the shadows.

* * *

_Present Time_

"Alright! Is every prisoner accounted for!?" Guy yelled out to Lee, who for the last half hour had been looking over every prisoner and making sure they matched the documents they had been given concerning everyone they had taken hostage over the years from Suna.

"Yes, Guy-sensei! Everyone is present and accounted for it seems!" Guy nodded as his gaze looked over the prisoners, which were about fifty total, making the prisoners sweat and look at each other.

Many of the older prisoners had assumed that due to the recent attack by their village, that they were either being executed to raise public morale or being questioned about what they remembered about Suna. The recent ones immediately assumed they were being put to death, many of the new ones knew that a new Hokage had been chosen, so they believed that they were being killed as an act of revenge.

So when they were all brought out to a sectioned off part of the town, they were confused. Ever since they had been here, Guy and Lee had been getting them into a formation, assigning them in lines based off of things such as age, sex, sickness, and other factors.

While there were only seven women, six of them were recently captured in the Chunin attack, with the only one who wasn't being Konoha's longest-held prisoner at twenty-six years, having been caught for trying to assassinate a group of genin as revenge for her father.

The women, who in reality were mostly young girls around the age of sixteen, nervously stood in line as Tenten looked over them, checking them for injuries and whether or not if any of them might have been with child, though none of them were. About four medical ninjas had been requested and sent to Guy, so they were helping in these checks.

The girl Tenten and the medical-nin were currently looking over was extremely nervous, sweat running down her face as they checked over her body, thoughts of being sold into slavery entering into her mind "W-Why are you doing this?"

"Hm? Doing what?"

"C-Checking us and cleaning us. A-Are you planning on making us look nice so we would look more appealing to potential buyers?" Tenten didn't know what she meant for a moment until she realized she was talking about slavers.

Tenten just shook her head as she spoke: "No, on orders from the Hokage, we are to escort you back to Suna."

"H-Huh? W-We're being sent back home?" The girl had disbelief in her voice as a tear ran down her face, a fear of being lies to creeping up on her though Tenten just nodded.

"Yeah, we've apparently agreed to a prisoner swap with your village, so we'll be guiding you all back to your own village before bringing our own prisoners back." The girl Tenten was talking to had more tears run down her face as she moved her arm up to wipe them off.

"I-I'm so glad! I-I was so scared!" Tenten didn't say anything as she finished cleaning off the girl and sent her back to the female line, the girl softly crying the entire way back as the others tried to comfort her and ask what was wrong.

Tenten just watched her with mixed emotions, while she certainly could understand the feeling of happiness with being able to return to one's home, a part of her didn't want to take pity on Suna, the image of destruction still fresh in her mind.

As Tenten watched the girl walk back to the group, she didn't notice someone behind them until they placed their hand on her shoulder "Huh? Oh, Guy-sensei."

"Everything alright Tenten? You seem like something's bothering you." Tenten went to respond but closed her mouth as she just kept staring, trying to come up with the right words.

"It's just...I understand that she's happy that she's able to return home, and won't have to spend the rest of her life in a jail cell or as someone's slave, but...She also has to understand that being a shinobi means that you are always in danger; you're never technically safe from harm. She should have known that when she participated in the invasion, right?"

Guy kept looking at Tenten before he looked at the girl in question as he sighed through his nose "Well, it's not exactly an easy answer. The flames of youth burn in everybody at some point in their lives, and many don't want to see those flames burn in a dark hole."

"But as I said, she knew the risks when-"

"Tenten, let me ask you a question." Tenten looked up at Guy who was still staring at the girl "If Hokage-sama ordered for you to attack Suna as soon as we arrived, despite being outnumbered and almost certainly guaranteed capture or death, what would you do?"

"I would follow out the order, of course. I may not agree with the order, but my job is to carry out missions given to me by the village, no exceptions."

"Right! The same goes every ninja of every village! She was ordered to be apart of the assault by the Kazekage, who is the leader of her village. Like you, she couldn't say no, because she's a fellow ninja and it was her job to carry out the order. But even if she was ordered, that doesn't mean she had to like the order. She has friends and family back in her village, I'm sure. After all, if the enemy captured you, you would certainly miss your family, right?"

Tenten looked down to the ground as she nodded "Yeah, of course."

"Then it's the same for her. The attack is over, and it's time to move on and carry out our order of getting to Suna safely! They were just doing what they thought was right for their village, and we need to understand that. Besides, the Kazekage was killed in the attack, so they have a lot of things to mourn right now."

Tenten just nodded as Guy looked down at her with a small smile as he turned to leave.

"Well, I hope you understand that and can come to understand their pain. It's a pain I hope you, Lee and Neji never have to go through." Guy said his peace as he walked back over to Lee, making sure the final numbers were right as Tenten stood there, the medical ninja coming back with the next girl.

" _Even so Guy-sensei, it's not easy to forgive the enemy…"_

* * *

_Temari and Kankuro_

Temari followed the ANBU agent as she looked over the scroll that Kankuro had handed her, detailing information on the teams that would be escorting them and the prisoners back to Suna. A small part of her had hoped that Shikamaru Nara, the brat who took mercy on her during the exams, would be apart of the team, but sadly that didn't seem to be the case.

A part of her wanted him to be on the team so she could show him why there was no reason for him to take mercy on her, yet another part didn't want to see him ever again, the shame of having been given mercy almost overbearing.

She was interested however in the kid that was named Neji of the Hyuga clan, not because he was really all that special or anything, but because he was the kid who lost to Naruto right before the invasion. She wanted to ask him how strong he thought Naruto really was, especially since Naruto somehow had enough energy to defeat Gaara right afterward.

However, she narrowed her eyes on the name of Rock Lee, the boy that fought Gaara in the first round of the Chunin Exams, and how far Lee was able to push Gaara. She still remembered how close Gaara was to seriously hurting Lee, perhaps almost ending his entire career as a ninja.

If it wasn't for two shinobi.

Perhaps this was a foreshadow of what was to eventually come, after all, these two shinobi not only rescued Lee but also completely stopped Gaara's sand attack on him. Besides…

Only the future Hokage and a skilled Jounin could do something like that.

* * *

_Chunin Exams Preliminary, Gaara vs. Lee  
_

Everyone was watching, not a single person, whether they be Genin or Jounin, had their eyes off of the current match.

Rock Lee, the taijutsu master of Team Guy.

Gaara, the unknown shinobi from Suna.

Ever since the start of their match was signaled, it had been a back and forth affair, neither combatant gaining the upper hand. When Lee would attack, Gaara would block. When Gaara would attack, Lee would dodge.

Both men were pushing each other to their limit, and eventually, someone would have to break. For many of the students watching, they wanted Lee to win; if anything it was because they didn't want to see him lose to a ninja from another village.

However, for Gaara's two teammates, they were both conflicted. They wanted to see Gaara, their brother, win. However, they both also knew how dangerous and ruthless Gaara was, never taking mercy on anyone, including them. While they had no qualms about killing, having been raised to kill, after all, they were still uneasy about the current match.

Kankuro, the puppet master and Gaara's brother, watched the match as sweat rolled down his face, his eyes not even turning as he spoke to his sister Temari "This kid from Konoha isn't bad, most people would be dead already."

Temari just nodded, her eyes also not wavering from the match "His mix of strength and agility isn't something you often see back in the village, so it's something Gaara hasn't really fought against."

"Even still, it's impressive nonetheless. Whoever trained him knew what they were doing, and in that regard, I can somewhat respect them."

"I hope you're not saying you think he has a chance of winning."

"Of course not, unless he has something up his sleeve, there's no way this kid can win." Kankuro and Temari went quiet afterward as the action continued down on the ground.

Lee ran towards Gaara and delivered fast kicks to try to break through his defenses; however, Gaara's sand blocked each attack, though Lee kept trying to break through by coming up with different ways and angles to attack, yet each attempt was a failure.

Lee backed up some as he was breathing heavily, his eyes scanning over the somehow still calm Gaara "I must say, it's very rare that I find such a strong opponent. This is a great opportunity to prove myself further!"

Gaara didn't respond as he raised his hand and attempted to attack Lee but wasn't able to connect as Lee used his quickness to dodge all of Gaara's attacks. However, time was running short; Lee was running out of energy, and knew that he was at a disadvantage the longer the fight went on."

" _I need to be faster if I want any chance of hitting him. However, the only way to do that is to remove my weights, which would tire me out more quickly. Though that may be my only option at this point."  
_

Taking a deep breath, Lee got a safe distance as he rolled up his pants leg and undid the weights he had on his body, each one falling and hitting the ground with a loud thud. If one were to look at Might Guy's face, then they would see one of nervousness, yet he remained silent, allowing Lee to do what he thought best.

Finally, all of the weights were off as Lee glared at Gaara as he got into his stance, and then in an instant.

He was gone like the wind.

Lee moved at an insanely high speed as he struck at Gaara, each attack barely being blocked by the sand before another attack from another angle, each kick getting faster and faster as Lee started to break through some and eventually was able to land a kick on Gaara's stomach, which sent him flying backward as his sand stopped him from hitting the wall, though there was no rest for the wicked as Lee's attacks kept coming.

The young crowd was amazed by Lee's speed; many of them excited to see such a spectacular display.

However, Temari and Kankuro just kept watching with somewhat worried looks as Kankuro spoke: "I can't believe he actually laid a hit on Gaara, this kid is way to fast."

"His speed increased after he took those weights off, which means that this has its drawbacks. If he could use his speed like this without any repercussions, then he would have no need for the weights." Temari kept watching the ever-growing intense battle as she replied, her eyes not even being able to keep up with Lee.

"I guess, but what could the drawback to this be?"

"I guess we'll just going have to wait and find out, though if I had to guess…" Temari watched for a moment later as her eyes caught a glimpse of Lee 'It's because he doesn't have the energy to keep it up."

She was right on the nose.

Back down on the battlefield, Lee's insane speed was starting to get slower, a large portion of his energy vanishing as he struck and struck, being able to occasionally hit Gaara, before being pushed back or blocked by his sand once again.

Lee went in for one final attack, yet Gaara again pushed him back, this time at an even harder thrust as Lee flew back and hit the wall, a cracking noise being heard as Lee spat blood out of his mouth, the concern on Guy's face could be seen as even more prevalent now.

Lee coughed up some more blood before he wiped off his mouth, his heavy breathing being the only thing heard on the battlefield as the two competitors looked at one another, both determined to end this fight.

Lee gripped his hand as he continued to stare at Gaara, one thought running through his mind. " _My regular attacks are useless; I have to use the Front Lotus!"  
_

Taking a stance, Lee seemed to take a deep breath as he stared at Gaara, silence running throughout as Gaara seemed utterly disinterested in the attack.

However, at that moment, Lee vanished like the wind again as he ran up to Gaara, gaining speed along the way as he struck his fists, making Gaara block each attack, however, by using his fists as a distraction, Lee swung his leg upwards and connected to Gaara's chin, sending him flying high into the air as Lee followed.

Allowing his bandages to loosen, Lee quickly wrapped them around Gaara, who struggled to get out of them as Lee grabbed hold of him tightly, the two reaching high into the sky before Lee flipped them as they began to fall back to the ground as they began to spin at an accelerated speed.

Everyone watched his amazement as the two looked like spinning wind as they fell to the ground, Lee still grabbing hard onto Gaara "With this, I've won!"

"...Are you sure?" Gaara spoke in a venomous tone as Lee let go of him and threw him hard to the ground as Lee flew backward and landed against the ground, sliding across until he hit the far wall, breathing heavily.

Lee looked at the cloud of smoke that had enveloped where Gaara had hit, everyone holding their breaths as they waited to see what had happened. Even Temari and Kankuro were speechless at the display they had just seen.

As the cloud began to vanish, Lee's eyes shot open as a pile of sand was the only thing present on the cracked floor, with no sign of Gaara anywhere.

Despite just using the attack, Lee pushed himself up and tried to run over, wondering where Gaara had vanished to.

However, before he had even moved far from the wall, he felt movement behind him, and as soon as he turned he saw Gaara standing where he had landed "W-What? H-How…?"

Gaara didn't reply as he eyed Lee with hatred and venom, everyone in the crowd having a chill run down their spine from the look Gaara had given Lee. Temari and Kankuro just looked at each other with tension in their eyes as Kankuro spoke: "That was close…"

"You're not wrong. The only reason Gaara survived was because of his sand clone."Indeed, the reason Gaara had been able to dodge the attack was thanks to one of his sand clones taking the hit, and not him personally.

Lee narrowed his eyes at Gaara, the effects of the Front Locus quickly taking effect as he felt himself getting weaker and weaker, his chances of winning quickly vanishing as he almost lost his balance " _There's only one thing I have left I can do, my last resort."_

Lee looked up at Guy, who still had a nervous look in his eyes as Lee gave a determined shout.

"Guy-sensei! Allow me to use it!"

Guy's eyes went wide when he heard those words from Lee, knowing precisely what Lee was talking about.

The Reverse Lotus.

The move would require Lee to open three of the eight gates, allowing him to remove all limitations on his speed and power. However, Lee would suffer significantly from the aftereffects, and the strain on his body would be severe enough to end his shinobi career possibly.

Guy looked at Lee as sweat fell down his face, easily seeing already how exhausted Lee was, the Hidden Lotus would just kill his body even more. Not only that, but the Hidden Lotus should only be used in dire circumstances. While the Chunin exams were important, Lee's long term health was even more so.

Taking a deep breath Guy looked down at Lee "Lee…"

But before Guy could say anything else, sand immediately wrapped around Lee and trapped him, causing Lee to cry out in pain as Gaara lifted him up "I'm tired of this. Sand Coffin!"

Lee's entire body was immobilized as Guy's eyes went wide as he suddenly jumped down from the viewing stands and towards Lee as he cried out "Lee!"

"G-Guy-S-Sensei!" Lee tried to escape but was immobilized as Gaara began to shut his hand.

"Sand Waterfall Funeral!" Gaara said out loud as everyone either closed their eyes or held their breath as Lee's body was trapped.

"Lee!"

"G-Guy-Sensei!"

Gaara closed his hand as he used the Sand Waterfall Funeral, expecting right there to end Lee's life and move on from this pointless match.

However, a voice suddenly cried out.

"Bushy Brow!" Suddenly, Naruto's voice rang out as he had also jumped down from the stands as he aimed for the Sand Coffin, and thanks to his training, he had the speed to get there as he tackled the coffin itself.

Temari stared at the entire thing with an unimpressed face "What an idiot, Gaara's just going to kill him too."

However, much to her confusion and then surprise, Naruto went in one side of the coffin and out the other, holding tightly onto Lee as the two of them hit the ground, sand covering both of them as Temari stared in shock.

"What? How did he break through Gaara's sand?"

Though Gaara was surprised, he ignored it as he went to trap both of them again, however, before he could do so he was suddenly caught and restrained by Guy.

Naruto pushed himself up as he looked down at Lee "You ok Bushy Brow?"

"N-Naruto...Once again, you've proven yourself worthy of being my rival. Thank you!" Lee gave a smile to Naruto, who just nodded as the two of them looked over at Guy as he restrained Gaara. "Guy-sensei!"

"Lee, stay back!" Guy looked over at the proctor as he yelled "What are you doing? End the match already!"

"H-Huh? Oh right…" the proctor coughed into his hand as he pointed towards Gaara "The winner by disqualification is Gaara from Sunagakure."

As soon as the proctor spoke, Guy released Gaara before jumping over to Naruto and Lee, seemingly ready to protect them. However, Gaara didn't say anything as he walked back to the staircase, not showing any attention to them.

Up in the stands, Temari and Kankuro just looked on in surprise as Kankuro gulped "How did he break Gaara's sand?"

Temari gritted her teeth as she spoke: "I don't know, but that kid is going to be a real pain in the future, I can feel it."

* * *

_Present Day_

Temari just stared at Lee's picture as the memory flashed through her mind, she still didn't know how Naruto was able to break through Gaara's sand, but that was a question that would have to be answered another day.

Eventually, Temari and Kankuro arrived at the end of the road, with Kurenai waiting for them. When she noticed the two had arrived, she walked over towards them and gave a smile "You must be Temari and Kankuro. My name is Kurenai; I'm one of the two jonin who will be accompanying you on the way back."

Temari closed the report card she had been handed as she nodded towards Kurenai "Yeah, I just finished reading the report on our escorts. It said you're the leader of Team Eight?"

"That is correct; my team consists of Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. We specialize in tracking and detection, so we shouldn't have to worry about any surprise attacks on the way to Sunagakure."

"I doubt we're gonna have to worry about anything on the way over there, and even if we do, Kankuro and I could take care of it ourselves, so I don't even know why the brat assigned us two teams."

"The brat?" Kurenai had a feeling she knew who Temari was talking about, yet she didn't want to try to make rash judgments and agitate them even more.

"Do I have to spell it out? Your new Hokage! The one named N-" Before Temari could finish, the ANBU accompanying them suddenly placed his hand over her mouth quickly, causing her to go wide-eyed as she glared at him.

"Let her go Gorilla." The ANBU known as Gorilla simply nodded as he took his hand off of her mouth as she kept her glare on him.

"What the hell was that for?! You looking for a way to die today!?" Temari reached behind for her fan, but before she could grab it, Kurenai quickly spoke.

"Peace Temari, he's just following the village-wide order right now. Nobody is to utter the name of the Hokage out in public until his public ceremony, as the only ones who know are the ANBU agents, Jonin, clan leaders, and anybody the Hokage has personally told, including you two."

Temari kept her glare on Gorilla as her hands fell to her side, anger filling her as she turned back to Kurenai "I've never heard of something like that before! Usually, the new Hokage is known throughout, even before their public ceremony aren't they?"

"It's because of the circumstances surrounding him at the moment."

"Circumstances surround him? He should be the hero of your village, shouldn't he!? After all, he was the one who defeated Gaara during our attack!"

"Temari...That may be so...But just like Gaara, Hokage-sama is a Jinchuuriki, so you should know how that is for someone growing up." Temari narrowed her eyes before she looked down, the memories of every that happened with Gaara flooding into her mind as she sighed.

"Tch, let's just get going." Suddenly stopping her tirade and conversation, Temari started walking forward as Kankuro followed, a downtrodden look also on his face as he remembered what their father used to do to Gaara.

The two of them walked by Kurenai as she started following them "Another thing, that also goes for everyone except for Guy and I. You aren't to mention to any of the Gennin who Hokage-sama is, understand?"

Temari didn't say anything as she kept walking, though Kankuro did turn around briefly to nod in approval as Kurenai sighed to herself, already not liking how the mission was starting off.

* * *

"Man, this sucks! Why did Kurenai-sensei make us wait here?" Kiba groaned in boredom as Kurenai had told team Eight that they were to wait at one of the benches on the side of the road, saying that she had confidential stuff to discuss with the delegates first.

While Shino and Hinata didn't really seem to mind as they were waiting quite patiently, Kiba had been walking around, groaning, sighing, pretty much anything to keep his mind off of the fact they currently had nothing to do at the moment.

"Like seriously, don't you guys think it sucks that we have to sit here and just wait?" Hinata and Shino didn't really say anything back, not knowing what to really say to him "Like, it makes you wonder what they're talking about doesn't it? What do you think it is Hinata?"

"H-Huh?" Hinata looked up at Kiba in surprise as she quickly shook her head "I-I don't know, maybe something about the security detail until we get out of the village?"

"Ah come on! It can't be something that boring! It has to be something that not even we can know about! Like...Oh! Maybe it's about the new Hokage!" Hinata tensed a little when she heard that, again questions about who the Hokage were entered her mind.

However, unlike earlier, she didn't feel the need to see him right away. She had a sudden surge of inspiration and determination to meet him, but as soon as she was rejected a meeting, her confidence vanished, and she had been mentally chastising herself for even thinking someone like her had a chance to meet the Hokage before anyone else.

"Don't you guys agree!? It has to be that!"

"E-Even if it is, then it makes sense that we couldn't go with her to them. T-They're trying to keep the Hokage secret since we were just attacked, a-at least that's what I was told…"

"Still though, we're shinobi as well! I can understand not telling the public, but I don't know why we can't know! Right Shino?"

Shino tilted his head over to Kiba as he spoke "...It's simple. Why? Because think about it, most Gennin never goes beyond that rank, and a lot of them retire fairly young or just don't make it in the world. It wouldn't make sense to tell them since they are also the least trusted out of all the ranks."

"I-I guess that's true, but still, the wait is killing me! What sucks even more is that we won't even find out until we get back from our mission to Suna!" While Kiba continued to ramble on and on, with Hinata trying to calm him down, Shino got lost in thought as he began to remember a couple of days ago.

" _I say that they won't tell any Gennin, and that is true, yet I know the truth…"_

* * *

_Hours After Jonin Vote-Aburame Residence_

The Morning sun hadn't even fully shown itself, yet the Aburame residence was already abuzz as the quiet residents were already wake and starting the day. Many of them knew that today would be significant since a new Hokage was set to be approved by the Jonin, yet nobody knew who the new Hokage was.

The favorite for the position was one of the legendary sannin in either Tsunade or Jiraiya, though some dark horse candidates like Kakashi and Shikaku had also been thought of as potential picks by the Daimyo.

However, the head of the Aburame clan, Shibi, felt something was off. He had heard that the delegates were less than pleased when they came back and that while Jiraiya had indeed been called to attend the vote, he had heard it was more so as a witness and not because he was the one chosen.

The only one he would think that Jiraiya would be called to testify for would be Tsunade, but that wouldn't explain why the delegates were less than pleased.

As he pondered this, he felt a presence come his way as Shino entered into his father's room, closing the door behind him. "...Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. I was wondering if you could show me those scrolls you were talking about, why? Because I need them for a technique, I wish to try out."

"Ah yeah...The ones from last night…" Shibi walked over to his desk to grab the scrolls off of them when all of a sudden the door to his room opened again.

"Shibi-sama." The one who had opened the door was one of the Aburame servants, as they had a somewhat nervous look on their face.

Shibi turned back towards the door as Shino walked over to the side as Shibi spoke: "What is it…?"

"The jonin named Anko Mitarashi has arrived with important information that only the main family may hear, should I let her in?" Shibi immediately knew what information was being delivered as he nodded.

"Yeah...Bring her to my room." The servant bowed as they closed the door, leaving the father and son duo alone in the room once more. "Shino...I want you to stay when she comes in here."

"Hm? Why?"

"It's simple, when Namikaze-sama was named Hokage, my father allowed me to stay with him when the information was delivered, so I'm simply granting the same privilege to you."

"I see." Shino just nodded as the two waited in silence, time slowly going by until the door opened once more as the servant appeared.

"Shibi-sama, I introduce to you Lady Anko Mitarashi." The servant bowed as Anko walked past him with a scroll in her hand, a less than impressed look on her face.

Once she was entirely in the room, the servant straightened himself as he walked back out and closed the door behind him, leaving the three of them in the room. Immediately Anko looked over at Shino as she started speaking "Well I have information about the new Hokage; however, I'm only allowed to tell the head of the clan, so why is this kid in here?"

Shino didn't show any emotion as Shibi responded "Clan Leaders are allowed to have the main family present during a Hokage announcement...My father did so with me, so I'm doing the same here."

Anko looked a bit annoyed, but she merely shrugged her shoulders as she looked back at Shibi "Well, fine then. But it's your fault if this kid goes off telling everyone who the new Hokage is, especially since the kids just a Genin."

"That won't be a problem…" Anko seemed to give a whatever look as she opened the scroll she was holding up, detailing all the information she had to say.

"Alright, well let's get this over with. 'We the Jonin council by a vote of seven to three, have approved the Daimyo's pick for Hokage'...Blah blah blah…" Anko seemed to not really care about most of the details, knowing that most of what was written was just official wording they had to include. "Alright, here it is. 'With all that said, we wish to inform you that the Fifth Hokage of Konoha is the son of Minato Namikaze, who goes by the name of Naruto Uzumaki.'"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Shino almost let out a questioning gasp but was able to hold it in, until Anko had finished speaking.

"Any questions?" Shibi shook his head as he replied.

"None...Like with all past Hokage's, the Aburame clan pledges it's full support for Hokage-sama and fully supports the decision." Anko just nodded as she folded the scroll back up and placed it in her pocket.

"All I needed to hear, now I just have to go report that the Aburame clan knows about the decision. Do be noted that you aren't allowed to tell anyone who doesn't know, who the new Hokage is. Doing so will result in severe consequences, or at least that's what I was told."

"I understand…" Anko again nodded as she looked at Shino again before she departed, leaving the two of them alone once again. "So...The Jinchuriki huh?"

"Jinchuriki?" Shino looked at his father, and while he had plenty of questions, that one was suddenly the most mysterious one.

"It's nothing I can tell you about but...I will say that there was a reason most of the village shunned Naruto for most of his life."

That was true; ever since Shino had met Naruto, he saw nothing but people abusing him both physically and verbally. Yet he himself never understood why, he saw Naruto as annoying at times sure, but he never saw him as someone who deserved all the hate he got.

Still, he also didn't see him as someone that would become Hokage anytime soon, so to hear that he had been named as the fifth came as a shock. "Also Shino, you're not allowed to tell anyone...I don't think you will, but do be mindful of it."

"Right... _Naruto Uzumaki is the new Hokage? Was there more to him than meets the eye? There has to be if he was named and approved as the Fifth Hokage. Also, what was that about being the son of the Fourth Hokage?"  
_

Questions aplenty ran through Shino's mind, yet none of those questions would be answered until later down the line.

* * *

_Present Time_

Shino ran the scene through his head as he let out an uncharismatic sigh, his mind still conflicted on the fact Naruto had been named Hokage. Still, he knew Naruto and Kiba were best friends, and he also knew about Hinata's feelings for Naruto, so he knew he had to keep quiet about it to them especially.

As time continued to pass with the trio, they eventually heard footsteps as soon Temari and Kankuro emerged from around the corner, immediately locking eyes with Team Eight.

Both sides immediately tensed up as Kiba and Shino both stepped in front of Hinata as Temari and Kankuro glared at them. However, the ones with the most intense glares were between Kankuro and Shino as Kankuro gave a sarcastic remark "Oh, I see you lived."

"...Same goes for you…" Shino raised his arm as bugs began to crawl out of his sleeves as Kankuro started to take a defensive position "You may have survived my bugs the first time, but that won't happen again, why? Because I'm more prepared for you this time."

Kankuro and Shino both began to take battle positions when Kurenai rounded out the corner and yelled "That's enough! Shino, lower your attack stance."

Shino didn't say anything as he did as was instructed, though with a bit of reluctance. Kankuro just smirked as he also lowered his stance, which earned a glare from Kurenai as she walked in front of Temari and Kankuro.

"Despite what just happened, Temari and Kankuro are the delegates from Suna who we are to escort back along with the prisoners, so no hostilities." Kiba just growled as he turned back towards Hinata and tried to lead her away while Shino kept staring at Kankuro.

"When we do finally meet on the battlefield, I hope you don't hold back, why? Because I won't hold back either." Shino turned and walked over to his teammates as Kankuro kept his smirk.

"Same to you."Kankuro spoke with a bit of eagerness in his voice as Kurenai just sighed as she motioned for Temari and Kankuro to follow her as she walked over to her team.

"Let's get going; Guy should already have the prisoners ready." Nobody said anything as they all followed her, Team 8 staying close to each other while Temari and Kankuro trailed them a few feet back.

* * *

When Kurenai and the others arrived at the village gates, they immediately saw two groups of people with about twenty-five people in each group, and the groups were formed by five lines of five, having been organized based on a variety of factors.

Guy himself was in front of the gates; arm crossed as Lee stood beside him and was recounting everyone to make sure they weren't missing anyone, while Neji and TenTen stood directly in front of each group to make sure they didn't move.

The entire area had been blocked off by ANBU to prevent civilians from coming close to the prisoners, out of fear for the safety of both the civilian and the prisoners themselves.

When Guy saw Kurenai walking towards them, he gave a smile and a wave to signal her over to him. Kurenai immediately began to do so as her team kept following her, still on edge with the two Suna Shinobi still behind them.

However, when Kankuro and Temari walked by the Suna prisoners, a lot of them, especially the ones involved in the attack, eyed them curiously and also with a bit of hope, with some of the youngest ones calling out to them in desperation almost.

When Kurenai reached Guy, he gave her a thumbs up before he spoke "Good job Kurenai on getting the delegates and bringing them here! I've had my team arrange all the prisoners together in an orderly fashion so we shouldn't have any problems on the way there, as long as we're not attacked or disturbed!"

"I can see that very impressive I must say." Guy handed her a piece of paper that described all the formations they had come up with as Kurenai nodded "I see, so the plan is to have Kankuro and Temari walk in between the two groups, while we have two sets of two walk behind each group, and then another two sets of two walk in front of them."

"That is precisely what we're doing! We've divided them into group A and group B. In front of Group A will be the set of you and me, while the back set will be between Kiba and Neji. The front set of group B will be Lee and Hinata while the back set will be TenTen and Shino. Any questions?"

"So, this is a good setup. We keep our two best trackers in Shino and Kiba in the back to track all of the prisoners, while keeping 1 Byakugan user in both the front and back. Also, we have a long range attacker in TenTen in the back, and a close-range attack in the front with Lee. This is quite the setup Guy."

"Of course! No setup is too tough for Team Guy! The flames of youth run through our veins after all!" Kurenai gave a small laugh at Guy's eccentric speech as Guy turned towards Lee. "Lee, is everything accounted for?"

"Yes, Guy-sensei! Everyone is here and accounted for!"

"Fantastic! Alright, start lining everybody up; it's showtime!"

Once everyone had lined up in their sets, Guy stood in front of the gates as he yelled out "Alright! To every prisoner who doesn't know, we are to escort you back to your village in a prisoner exchange! Now, this doesn't mean your crimes have been completely forgiven, Hokage-sama has ordered that should we find you out of your village walls, then we have permission to strike you down!"

Many of the prisoners gulped as they looked at each other, the young ones who could continue to be a shinobi immediately knew that they would have a tougher time on missions and the like now.

"Because we are transporting a large batch of prisoners, it will be a few days until we reach Suna. We will travel through the Land of Rivers, where once we reach the capital, we will stock up on supplies and then continue onwards. If we have no interruptions, we should be able to reach Sunagakure in five to six days!" The prisoners didn't really do anything except nod their heads, many of them either shocked or relieved they were being taken home. "Alright, if nobody has anything to add, then we shall get going!"

Guy looked over to Kurenai, and after she indicated she had nothing to add, Guy nodded as he signaled for the gates to be open as he joined Kurenai in front of group A as soon the gates began to open, and once they were fully open, Guy gave the signal to Lee as the front sets started marching with the prisoners and back sets following.

* * *

The large group marched on in silence as the prisoners didn't know what to say to one another, other than small whispers and the like. It's not like Guy had imposed anything that said they couldn't talk, it was more along the fact that they were so shellshocked at the turn of events that they didn't know what to say to one another.

As Guy and Kurenai walked side by side, Kurenai was the first one to break the ice as she spoke to Guy "So, what do you think of this mission?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I mean don't you think this is a rather risky mission to go right off the bat with? His very first day in office, he's already trusting Suna after the attack on the village. I know they had agreed to surrender, but I can't help but feel a little tense about such a decision being made in just mere hours."

"I see, well I can understand the concern; but I think you shouldn't worry too much. Suna currently has no Kage, meaning the morale of their troops are surely down, especially after they found out Orochimaru had tricked them. Plus, it would look bad from a political standpoint and would hurt future discussions with the other villages and small countries. Suna has everything to lose by betraying the surrender agreement."

"Still, I'm worried about his future negotiating skills if he's trusting Suna so much day one. You would think someone his age and one who even fought in defense of the village would hold a bit more of a grudge against the people who attacked."

"I would call it a good thing if I were you Kurenai, as holding grudges don't always lead to making the best decisions. Again I can understand your concern, but you shouldn't doubt Hokage-sama, after all, the jonin council did approve him after all."

"Yes, I know. I am on the council after all."

"Exactly, I don't know what was said at the vote; but I do know the final tally of the votes was seven to three. With how you're talking, it makes me wonder if you were one of the three who voted against the nomination?"

"If I did, could you blame me? I've already had my fair share of bad luck with someone who was in charge at such a young age; I just thought he needed more years of experience is all."

"You're talking about Yakumo aren't you?"

"..."

"Kurenai, before the Third Hokage passed, he was planning on locking Yakumo away in her mountainside manor because of her powers. From what I've heard, the elders plan on asking the Fifth Hokage to follow through with such an order. But from what I saw from the ceremony, he won't do that. I think that shows a side of him we really need to look at in a positive light."

"Well, maybe he'll have more success with her than I ever did."


	10. Konoha Recovery Arc IV: Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories of the Past, people of the past, places of the past...Everything must eventually come to the present and look to the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, quite a few things with this chapter. The main one being is that this may be the last chapter for a few weeks; so I tried to give an extra long chapter so you guys have something to enjoy while I'm gone.
> 
> Few things to note though.
> 
> As I said in the last chapter, this is a Naruto/Temari story; any other girls who fall for Naruto will be for storyline purposes and nothing more. This is not a harem or anything, just saying because of some parts of this chapter.
> 
> I had to make a few minor OC's in this chapter just to expand the Sarutobi family, they're not mainstays or anything, but they were needed for this chapter and some future plotpoints that I may use.
> 
> People have been saying to have longer chapters and not split them up, so what do you guys think; do you enjoy long chapters like this?

The sound of water flowing could be heard as two people sat by each other next to the riverbed, one was an academy student with goggles on while the other one was a middle age man also with blond hair, a shinobi headband on his forehead.

"So, how was school today?" The older Shinobi looked down at the younger one as a response came.

"It was awesome! I made a new friend today, and we made plans to hang out later with his brother!" The older one gave a small smile as he ruffled the younger one's hair as the sound of fish jumping out of the water could be heard.

"That's good you know? Your mother and I always want you to make as many friends as possible because when the day comes that you finally become a ninja, you're going to need all the friends you can get to watch your back out on the battlefield!"

"Ehehe! Just you watch Dad! I'm going to make everybody in the school my friend, so when the time finally comes, I'll have so many allies the enemy won't know what hit them!" The father laughed as he looked back out to the river.

"Well I'm glad to see your enthusiastic, but it won't be easy you know? Just the other day you were telling me that one of the kids declared you his biggest rival, you called him Bushy Brow or something like that?"

"Ah yeah, he's trying to go after Sakura and impress her! But if he really wants her, then his biggest rival should be Sasuke, not me! I mean, that's who all the girls want!"

"Really now? I've seen this Sakura girl before, and I'm pretty sure she's always staring at you when I pick you up from school."

"Dad, everybody stares at me when you pick me up because they all want to see you!"

"Oh sure, the other kids stare at me, but she specifically stares at you. I think there might be a bigger reason than you think for this bushy brow calling you his rival."

"Yeah whatever you say, dad." The father laughed as the two of them stared back out to the river as the sound of footsteps could be heard behind them until a third voice spoke up.

"Hey! Sorry, I'm late!" The two looked behind themselves and saw a red-haired woman carrying a picnic basket approach them before sitting on the opposite side of the young one.

The Dad just shook his head as he offered her a smile "It's fine; you are carrying someone after all."

The woman gave a soft giggle as she placed her hand on her large stomach as she looked down at the young one "Soon you're going to be a big brother, how do you feel about that?"

"I'm really excited mom! I can't wait to teach them everything I know, from the Shadow Clone to Dad's Rasengan! Weather I have a little brother or little sister. I'm really excited!" The woman laughed at her son's enthusiasm as she opened the basket she had and pulled out a cloth.

"Well, let's get to eating."

The father nodded as he began to speak "Yeah le-"

"Hokage-sama!" The father was interrupted as suddenly a puff of smoke appeared with an ANBU Agent present "I'm sorry to disturb you lord, but the Jonin Council needs you!"

The family looked at the agent before the father shook his head and sighed "That's the second day in a row they've needed me. I wonder what's going on?"

The father looked at his family with a sad look as he scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry, I'll try to hurry." Despite his sad tone, the mother and son had smiles as they merely shook their heads as the mother replied.

"Oh no need to rush; we have all day." The father gave a laugh and a nod before vanishing with the ANBU Agent in a puff of smoke, leaving the mother and son behind "I do wish they gave him a break though, he's been run ragged the past few days."

"Ah, there's no need to worry mom! If anybody can do it, then it's dad!" The mother smiled and nodded at her son as she ruffled her son's hair.

"Well, I can't argue with that. You really look up to him though don't you?"

"Of course! It's my dream to take over for dad one day! Of course, that means I'm going have to train hard every single day to reach that goal; I know it won't just be handed to me! But don't worry mom, someday you will be able to call me the Fifth Hokage!"

"Ehehe, Well I'm glad you think so." The mother laid the cloth down as she began going back through the basket as she smiled "Well, might as well eat something while we wait, don't you think Naruto?"

* * *

Naruto shot up in bed panting as sweat rolled down his forehead, his breathing was heavy, and he looked like he had just seen a ghost.

After a few moments, Naruto was able to collect himself as he placed his hand on his heart and felt his heart almost beating out of his chest as tears ran down from his eyes. Taking a few deep breaths, Naruto wiped his face off as quietly talked to himself.

"A dream...Of my parents...But, I've never seen them before, yet; it felt so real, and they looked so genuine. Maybe it was a vision of what could have been?" Naruto just shook his head as he got out of his bed and walked to the sink as he poured himself a cup of water and lightly drank from it as he sat back down on his bed and looked out to the night sky. "I almost want to say that yesterday was a dream as well, yet…"

Naruto looked down at his clothes before looking over at his door as his new cloak hung on it, affirming to Naruto that he was no longer in a dream, he was in the real world. Naruto looked over towards the clock on his wall, noticing it was five in the morning.

"It was about this time yesterday when the council woke me up, and I do have quite a bit to do today, so maybe it would be a good time to go ahead and start this early again?" Thinking it over for a moment, Naruto nodded as he finished his cup of water and placed the bowl on top of his fridge as he turned the light on in his room.

As Naruto went to his fridge to prepare something to snack on, the dream he just had continued to play out in his head as other thoughts started to be born from the dream.

_"When I told Sakura yesterday, she didn't really believe me at first. But when her parents told her the whole truth, she had a type of hurt in her eye that I rarely ever see. It was a type of betrayal almost like she couldn't believe that her parents had lied to her for years. I hope she doesn't take that to heart and do anything stupid, especially since her parents were basically forced to lie to her."  
_

Naruto ran the thoughts through his head as he stirred the ramen, it's fresh smell almost being ignored by Naruto as his mind was occupied on other things.

" _Even so, she's just one of many that I have to tell. Soon the entire village will know about me and my past, and many of the kids and teens will know they were lied to for their entire lives. I wonder, even if they do accept me, will they hold regret for not only their parents but for the higher-ups as well? For the sake of the village, I hope not."  
_

Naruto quietly thought this as he continued to stir the ramen as a light breeze could be felt coming from the window.

* * *

The moonlight shone into the window of the Sarutobi manor as Konohamaru laid in his bed wide awake, having barely slept after the news he had gotten the previous day; that his mentor and friend Naruto Uzumaki was going to be the Fifth Hokage of Konoha.

Initially, Konohamaru didn't want anyone to be picked as the Fifth Hokage because he thought the village would quickly forget about his grandfather and everything he had ever done for the village. Yet he felt not only relieved but almost giddy that Naruto was the Fifth Hokage. Sure he had challenged Naruto to a race to see who would become Hokage first, but over time he had slowly accepted that Naruto would most likely beat him to it. He just didn't expect Naruto to do it as fast as he did.

Konohamaru smiled as he looked out to the night sky, enjoying the peacefulness of it. He knew today was going to be a hard day to get through, since it was the last day that his grandfather's body would be present at the Sarutobi manor before being transported to the Hokage manor, and because of that; today was the day the entire family was going to gather and have the private service.

He had heard rumors that the Fifth would be attending, but he highly doubted that. It wouldn't make much sense for Naruto to attend both the private and public service, especially since the Sarutobi family hadn't been informed of his promotion. Still…"It would be pretty sweet if he came!"

"If who came Kono?" A feminine voice rang out towards Konohamaru as he looked to the side of him and saw one of his distant family members looking at him.

The family member was Yuri Sarutobi, a nine-year-old girl who had come to Konoha for the Hokage's funeral. She had a brown skin tone since she was from Kumogakure, where she lived with her mother and her father; her father being initially from Konoha.

Konohamaru didn't know her all that well, really he barely knew any of the family members who had attended who weren't from Konoha, but since she was the only one around his age, the two of them quickly began talking to one another. "A-Ah it's no one, just talking to myself!"

"Huh? But you were talking about someone weren't you? You said it would be cool if he came. What are you talking about?" Yuri walked over and sat down on the side of the bed as she looked down at Konohamaru with a questioning look.

Konohamaru scratched the back of his head as he tried to form the words needed "W-Well...I was just saying how cool it would be if one of my friends came to the training grounds with me!"

Konohamaru tried to force a smile, yet Yuri just puffed her cheeks out as she spoke "Kono, you don't have to lie to me. I won't tell anyone!"

Konohamaru internally sighed as he pushed himself up and spoke: "Well I can't really say anything; it's kind of a secret."

"Oh, I like secrets!"

"No like, it's a really big super important secret! He would never forgive me if I told anyone."

"Who would never forgive you? Is it the person you were talking about just a moment ago?"

"A-Ah yeah, it's him…" Konohamaru tried to get out of his current situation as he stood up on his bed and looked out his window, trying to find something to distract his relative with, when all of a sudden he saw a Shinobi waiting at the front door, his arms crossed as he leaned beside it "Huh? What are they doing here?"

"Who? I want to see!" Yuri jumped up and tried to push Konohamaru out of the way, yet he stood his ground as he kept his eyes focused on the ninja.

"I wonder why they're just waiting there? Maybe they're waiting for us to wake up?" Konohamaru asked himself those questions before jumping off his bed and running towards his door.

"Hey Kono, where are you going?"

"Bathroom!" Konohamaru made up a lie as he ran down the hall of his house and down the stairs onto the main floor, turning a corner as the black closed casket containing his grandfather's body was in the middle of the grand room. Though Konohamaru had been trying to move forward after his talk with Naruto, the sight of it made him catch his breath before he shook his head and ran past it.

Konohamaru ran towards the door and opened it, causing the shinobi outside to look at it as their eyes met Konohamaru's, confusing the both of them. "Honorable Grandson?"

"Huh? Ebisu-sensei?" The shinobi outside of the house was Konohamaru's tutor Ebisu, a tokubetsu jonin who had been Konohamaru's tutor for as long as anyone could remember. "What are you doing here?"

"A-Ah, it's nothing really. Just thought I would see how the family was doing during this troubling time." Konohamaru raised an eyebrow as he eyed Ebisu.

"This doesn't have anything to do with the Hokage does it?" Sweat broke out on Ebisu's forehead as he quickly swung it.

"O-Of course not, It's nothing like that, I'm simply-" Ebisu was interrupted by the sound of a creaking chair as Konohamaru turned around and looked at a long dark haired woman in a wheelchair.

"Oh...Mom."

"H-Huh? Honorable Daughter?" Ebisu turned and looked into the house and saw the Third Hokage's Daughter In Law looking at the two of them.

She gave a small smile as she nodded towards them "Ebisu, it's nice to see you. What brings you here so early in the morning?"

Ebisu quickly straightened himself in the doorway as he gave a bow towards her "I'm sorry to be here at such an early time, but I'm here on an assignment from the Jonin Council regarding today's private ceremony."

"Oh? Are there any problems with it?"

"No it's nothing of the sort, it's…" Ebisu glanced down at Konohamaru before returning his gaze to the woman "It's to inform you that the Fifth Hokage would like to attend part of the private memorial today."

"Ha! I thought so!" Konohamaru pointed up at Ebisu, causing the jonin to sweat as he kept his stare on the woman as he swallowed.

"Honorable Daughter, since you are now the clan leader of the Sarutobi clan; you're already aware who the Fifth Hokage is. I simply state this because the jonin council recognizes that other members of the Sarutobi clan may not be so welcoming towards him."

Konohamaru's mother was silent for a moment as Konohamaru looked back up at Ebisu "Hey! I chatted with Naruto yesterday; there shouldn't be any problem with him coming over!"

"W-What!? Honorable Grandson, y-you already…?"

"Know Naruto is the Fifth? Of course! He is my boss after all!" Ebisu's jaw dropped as he stared at Konohamaru, who returned his gaze towards his mother "There shouldn't be any problems...Right, mom?"

His mother seemed to think on it for a moment before giving a smile towards Ebisu "Ebisu, inform the Jonin Council that the Sarutobi Clan gladly welcomes the Hokage's presence during today's memorial."

* * *

An hour had passed since Naruto woke up, during that time he had quietly sat on his bed running the dream through his head several times as he quietly ate the cup of ramen he had prepared for himself.

Eventually, Naruto finished up the cup of ramen as he laid it on the desk beside him as he pushed himself up and walked over towards his door as he grabbed the cloak off of it. "Well, let's get started."

Naruto threw the cloak on over his now blue outfit and grabbed the Hokage Hat that was hanging underneath his cloak on the door as he tied it around his waist and opened the door to leave his room.

However, as soon as he opened the door; he was surprised to see someone leaning against the railing reading over a book "Huh? Kakashi-sensei?"

"Ah, finally decided to come out?"

"When did you get here?"

"Oh I would say about two hours ago; I've just been waiting for you to wake up is all."

"W-What? I told you to take the nights off! Also, I'm sure you knew I woke up about an hour ago myself, so why didn't you come inside then?"

"It would be rather rude to barge in on the Hokage as soon as he wakes up, wouldn't you think?" Naruto went to respond but closed his mouth as he took a sigh and nodded.

"R-Right...A-Anyway, I have to meet with the elders today right?" Naruto walked over to his staircase as he raised an eyebrow as he looked towards the ground. "Huh? The Carriage?"

The Carriage that had been used the previous morning to bring Naruto to his private ceremony was currently in front of his apartment. While no jonin were in sight like last time, Naruto had a sinking feeling that it was just as protected as last time. "Yeah, the council thought it would be the best way to transport you between places safely. Don't worry; this entire area is currently in a genjutsu so nobody, not even the other residents, can see or hear you or the carriage. Once you're inside, the agent Tilapia will apply the same technique to it that she gave to you yesterday."

"I-I see. Well, it's not really my style; but if that's what the council thinks is best." Naruto walked down the stairs with Kakashi close behind him as the door to the carriage automatically opened for Naruto, weirding him out a bit, before he walked up the side and into the carriage with Kakashi following.

Once both were inside, the door closed and the driver ordered for the horses to begin moving. Once Kakashi made sure Naruto was comfortable, he started speaking "Now, I have a few important things to tell you; so be sure to listen closely."

"Alright, what's up?"

"The first is that I need to warn you about a man named Danzo Shimura." Naruto raised an eyebrow as he adjusted himself some.

"Danzo Shimura?"

"Yeah, he's not really known to many outside of the shinobi ranks; however, during the Third Hokage's reign, many would call him the second most powerful man in the village."

"I-I see."

"I say that because from what I've been told, Danzo tried to steer the Daimyo into choosing him as the Fifth Hokage, away from the expected choices of Jiraiya and Tsunade. He certainly didn't want or expect you to be chosen Naruto." Naruto gulped a bit as he nodded, signaling for Kakashi to continue "In all honesty Naruto, he would love to have you locked up and do nothing until the time came for you to be used as a weapon. It's because of this that have many worried about his recent behavior."

"Recent behavior?"

"Yeah, he's been quite pleased with you being chosen as the Fifth. That has many of us worried and have made him the target of assassination plans."

"A-Assassination plans?"

Kakashi nodded as he tried to find the right words to say "...The Jonin Council have assassination plans for everybody in the village, both civilian and shinobi alike, made for the Hokage to enact at any time. However, people like Danzo have more than one assassination plan crafted, due to the fact that he is so powerful; especially since he's the leader of ANBU Root."

"ANBU Root? What's that?"

"It's a section of the ANBU that work in the shadows, to the point where they don't even have paperwork filed for what they do. The Third Hokage allowed Danzo to do whatever was needed, with a few restrictions, to keep the village running and ready for a case of war. In fact, he's made the Root Faction into such a cult, that even removing him from his official position wouldn't diminish his power."

"I see, so the only way to remove him…"

"Would be assassination." Naruto felt a chill go up his spine as he gulped "You just have to order it."

Naruto bit down on his lip, a pit forming in the bottom of his stomach "Kakashi-sensei, what would you do in my position?"

"What would I do? Well, I wouldn't rush to any decision. But I would keep it in the back of my mind for the time being."

"R-Right, that's what I'll do."

"Alright, if that's your choice." Naruto gulped as he leaned back some in his seat as he looked outside to the sleeping village, a headache starting to form as he rubbed his temple.

"It's too early for this…" Naruto lowly said to himself as silence overtook the two of them, more weights being added to Naruto's shoulder as he let out a long sigh.

After arriving at the tower and leaving the carriage, Naruto and Kakashi walked up the steps of the Hokage Tower; the only sound that could be heard was their footsteps.

Finally, the two reached the office as Naruto opened the door to reveal two elderly figures waiting for him inside. "Hokage-sama, we've been waiting for you."

The one to speak was the woman on the left, a man on her right. Kakashi just narrowed his eyes as Naruto looked at the two of them "I'm guessing you're the elders?"

"That is correct." The man was the next to speak "I am Homura Mitokado, and she is Koharu Utatane. We are the Hokage Council."

"Hokage council?"

"That is correct; we assist the Hokage in governing the village and offer our guidance. We wished to have a meeting with you, to discuss how we think the village should proceed." Kakashi narrowed his eyes, yet Naruto just nodded.

"I see, well I'm willing to listen." The elders seem to scowl at that remark, yet Naruto didn't change his answer as he looked at Kakashi. "Kakashi, you can wait outside."

"Huh? But Naru-"

"It's fine; I won't waver from my beliefs." Kakashi kept his eye on Naruto as he just nodded.

"Alright, just call for me when you need me." Naruto nodded as Kakashi left the room, leaving the elders alone with Naruto as he walked to over to his desk and sat down in his chair.

"Alright, so what would you like to discuss?" Naruto reached down towards his waist as he untied his hat and placed it on his head, a symbolic move to the elders.

"Well to begin with Hokage-sama, we wish to ask what your plans are going forward." Naruto raised an eyebrow at Homura before nodding.

"Well, rebuilding after Orochimaru's attack should be the top priority at the moment, along with our negotiations with Sunagakure."

Before Naruto could continue, Homura interrupted. "We actually have some problems with your negotiations with the Suna delegates."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"What we mean is not consulting us." Koharu spoke up next as she continued "Negotiations with another country is apart of the Hokage council's role, while the jonin may partly be to blame, you should have asked if there was anyone who could have assisted in the negotiations."

"Well I'm sorry, but I believe the negotiations went pretty well for my first time."

"You say that, but you conceded too much. Suna was heavily responsible for the attack, and you should have it to where they paid for it."

"While it's true they were the main attackers; I believe Orochimaru tricked them into attacking the village against their will. While they are at fault for killing and injuring so many, they also are victims in a way. I read they've been having major economic problems for a few years now, so I didn't want to ruin their entire village."

"You could have done that without giving up what you did though. You formed a trade deal that benefits them more than us, you signed a training agreement, and you also are giving back every prisoner we have ever taken from their village. Quite frankly, this deal is atrocious."

Naruto didn't bat an eye as he leaned back in his chair "My goal was to find a way for both of our villages could benefit while keeping the door open to where we can become allies once again in the future."

"And in the process, you squandered the opportunity for a counterattack."Homura retook the lead as he adjusted his glasses "Suna was already weak from the failed attack, and also have no Kage to call their own. The plan was to quickly name a new Hokage so we would have both the moral and numbers advantage in a counterattack."

"You speak as if you had someone else in mind for the position of Hokage."

The two elders looked at each other before Homura continued "We wished for someone older and more experienced to take the reigns. You're too young and inexperienced, you've never fought in a war, and also you've never lost comrades that were close to you. You don't know what it's like in the world."

Naruto kept his calm look as he closed his eyes and sighed "Is that what you said to my dad as well?"

The two elders tensed up as Homaru continued "What do you-"

"My dad, Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. Before I was named the Fifth, my dad was the youngest Hokage this village had ever had. So I'm just wondering if you told the exact same thing to my dad as well?"

The elders didn't say anything for a moment as they tried to find the right words, with Koharu taking the lead "Namikaze-sama was indeed young; however, he had fought in battles and a war before. He also knew what it was like to lose someone close to you, as well as knowing how it felt to be a leader. He's nothing like you, someone who will cause open riots in the streets as soon as you are announced to the public."

"Ah yes, because I'm a Jinchuuriki, right?" Naruto gave a low laugh as he began tapping onto his desk "My mother was the Jinchuuriki before me, yet I've never heard a bad thing about her. I wonder, do people hate me because of the lies that had been spread throughout the years?"

"Lies? What do you mean?"

"Yesterday, I heard from Kizashi Haruno that many of the higher ups in the village were able to run a very successful smear campaign against me. I'm just wondering if that's the reason you believe the public will have disdain for my nomination?"

Homura glared at Naruto as he spoke: "The people of this village are forbidden from talking about anything-"

"Anything related to me or the Kyuubi, correct? That may have been the rule during the old man's tenure, but what started as a noble cause was hijacked by an extreme ideology of hate. As the Jinchuuriki, I am supposed to be a weapon for the village in times of war. I wonder, was the reason this smear campaign was started was so I would have no qualms about letting my anger loose onto the battlefield?"

"...You have no proof of such a claim."

Naruto gave a small smile "Well, I guess I can't refute that."

"Hokage-sama, we've gotten off track. We have questions we need to confirm with you."

"Need to confirm?"

"We need to confirm you are qualified to lead this village."

"I believe that question was answered when the Daimyo chose me and the jonin approved me. Though, I guess you could always go to the Daimyo with an alternative choice before the public knows."

"We just want what's best for the village; we believe it would be better for you to learn and grow before becoming Hokage."

"Then let me ask you, who should be the Fifth Hokage; if not me?"

"..." The elders looked at each other as they nodded "We believe that Danzo would be an excellent choice to become Hokage. His age would ensure you would be his immediate successor to the position."

"Danzo, huh?" Naruto closed his eyes as he thought to himself " _I trust Kakashi-sensei more than these two, so what should I do?"_

"So Hokage-sama, shall we begin the questioning? At the very least, it will be something for to study on before you become the Sixth."

"..." Naruto kept his eyes closed as a line Kakashi said ran through his mind.

_**Well, let's just say that a lot of the jonin are hoping for you to bring in some fresh blood so to say.** _

"Hokage-sama…"

"...Homura...Koharu…" The two elders waited for his response as Naruto opened his eyes "You two are relieved of your duties."

The two elders stared at Naruto, not entirely processing what he said as Koharu spoke: "H-Hokage-sama, what do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is this. You two have done many great things for the village; you helped lead the Old Man for more years than I can imagine. However, I believe it's time that a new era is brought in. Therefore, you two are dismissed from the Hokage council. I promise to find replacements for you soon."

"Hold on a minute!" Homura quickly stood up as he yelled at Naruto "You can't make such a brash and stupid decision on a whim! We're not trying to take the position away from you, but we fully believe it would be better for you to learn under Danzo first."

"That's stupid logic. Kakashi told me about Danzo and how the Jonin council don't particularly care much for him. I believe naming him Hokage would be a mistake that wouldn't have an easy fix."

"K-Kakashi?"

"Yes, I trust him more than I trust either of you."

"Kakashi Hatake was a candidate for the position of Hokage but wasn't chosen for a reason! You're going to trust him over us, the ones who have advised the Third for decades?"

"Homura. The old man chose you as his own personal council, replacing the council of the second. While my father may have kept you on, I fully believe that the time for you to retire has come."

"You can't be serious!" Homura took a step forward when "Hoka-"

Homura stopped as the sheathing of metal could be heard, making him sweatdrop as he felt a presence behind him.

Homura looked around to see two ANBU agents, one holding a sword to his neck, while the other was pointing a sword down at Koharu's throat. Neither agent said anything; however, the message was loud and clear.

Naruto was a bit surprised by this but tried not to show it as he spoke "This is my final decision, Danzo will not be Hokage, and you two will be relieved of your duties. Don't worry; I'll make sure you're well off for all the work and service you have given the village."

Both of the elders gritted their teeth; however, with the ANBU behind them, they merely had to accept. Homura gave a bow as he spoke: "Very well, Hokage-sama."

Homura and Koharu both turned towards the door as they began to leave, the ANBU keeping their eyes on them until they both left. Once Naruto was alone again, the two agents vanished as the door opened revealing Kakashi. "So, how did it go?"

"As if you don't already know." Naruto gave a small laugh as Kakashi walked towards him "Well, they wanted Danzo as Hokage and wanted me to learn from him."

"So you fired them over that?"

"Well, I had a few other reasons. But anyway, I have to get my own council in here as quickly as I can. I can't do this alone haha."

"Well, you have options."

"Yeah…" Naruto leaned back and thought for a moment as a thought hit him "I have an idea, but it would require some changes."

"Changes?"

"Yeah. If I'm being honest Kakashi-sensei, I would love for you to be one of my personal councilmen. But you still have Sakura and Sasuke to teach and train, so I can't be selfish and take you away from them without having a suitable replacement for not only you but me as well."

"Well find a replacement for me won't be too hard, plenty of jonin don't have a team to call their own. Finding a replacement for you though would be a bit of a problem, especially since graduating exams are still a half a year away."

"Ah, this kinda sucks…" Naruto rubbed his head, trying to find a solution to the problem. Yet Kakashi merely smiled under his mask as he tapped the desk, gaining Naruto's attention. "Huh? What's up?"

"Well, I happened to hear that the Retired Ninja Council recommended Shikamaru for the rank of Chunin; right?"

"Ah yeah, I mentioned it to Asuma yesterday."

"Well, there's your answer right their."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Think about it, if Shikamaru is promoted to Chunin; then he won't be on Team Ten anymore, right? Meaning they too will be shorthanded."

"I guess that's true; maybe I should wait to promote Shikamaru then?" Kakashi let out a sigh as he shook his head.

"No, think about it. There are no rules on how many genins can be on a team; the Hokage has the final say on it. Every village uses a three-person team with a Jonin leader due to convenience, but adding an extra person wouldn't hurt, right?"

It took a moment for Naruto to realize what Kakashi meant when suddenly it hit him "Oh! I see I can kill two birds with one stone by doing that!"

"Yeah, perfect way to do it really."

"Ah yeah! This is sweet! I'm so glad I added you to my council Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto gave a thumbs up to Kakashi, who did smile but also let out a small sigh at the same time. "Well, now who else should I add?"

"I figure you would ask Jiraiya-sama as well."

"Well, I would like to have sensei; but he already declined to be my personal advisor. Though speaking of, I wonder where he is? I've not seen him since I asked him to grab the scrolls from my house and bring them here."

"Apparently he was last seen leaving the village; apparently he had something to take care of."

"What!? He didn't even tell me!" Naruto was both surprised, and a bit annoyed convinced that it was because of 'research' that Jiraiya always did.

Kakashi though just raised his hand to calm Naruto down "Whoa, no need to get all worked up. From what I've heard, it's apparently something that is a bit of a concern and needed to be looked into. He'll report everything once he's finished with it."

"Well...If you say so." Naruto sighed as he leaned back in his chair, trying to think of what else needed to be discussed when suddenly Dragon appeared beside of him.

"Hokage-sama!"

"Ah Dragon, is everything all right?"

"Lord! You have a visitor; it is the genin Sakura Haruno of Team Seven!"

"Huh? Sakura? What is she doing here?"

"She didn't say, although she has a case, and after heavy inspection; it's just food."

"Food huh? Well, I don't know why she's here and not by Sasuke's bedside; but alright, send her in."

"Lord!"

"Oh and Dragon. Have a team watch over Sakura and her parents for a bit; I let the elders know that Kizashi told me quite a bit of information so as a security measure, they need to be protected."

"It will be done Hokage-sama!" Dragon said this as he vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Naruto and Kakashi alone together.

"I wonder what Sakura is here for; I would have thought she would go back to Sasuke for sure." Naruto mostly said this to himself, though Kakashi was a bit cryptic with a reply.

"Well...I guess you're about to remember that she's barely even a teenager."

"Huh? She's the same age as me; I don't see how this is much of a problem." Kakashi didn't say anything more which just made Naruto even more confused as the two sat in silence, the only noise was Naruto taking his hat off and placing it on the table.

After a minute or two, footsteps could be heard outside the door until it opened, revealing Sakura with a round case in her arms. As soon as she saw Naruto, her voice seemingly got caught in her throat as she gulped, the sight of Naruto sitting at the Hokage desk had sent a jolt through her system. "H-Hey Naruto."

"Morning Sakura, it's nice to see you this early." Naruto gave his trademark smile towards her, making her shiver from excitement a bit as she started to walk towards his desk.

"Y-Yeah, nice to see you too. U-Uh I made this for you last night." Sakura reached the desk as she placed the container down on it, nervousness filling her body as Naruto stared at it.

"Huh? What is it?" Naruto started to reach towards the container, as he lifted the lid and was surprised at the contents "A cake?"

"Yeah um...I didn't really know what flavor you liked, so I just went with simple vanilla. I hope you don't mind."

"Ah no, I love vanilla! But why did you make me a cake?"

"O-Oh um, it's a congratulations present! You did just become Hokage after all!" Naruto was a bit surprised by this, yet he just gave a small smile towards her, making her heartbeat speed up.

"Thanks, Sakura, that actually means a lot. No one's ever made a cake for me, even on my birthdays; sensei would just buy a premade cake. So thanks." Naruto gave another smile towards her as he picked up the knife and fork that was also in the container as he cut off a slice.

Sakura clenched her hands together as she waited for Naruto's response as he used his fork and took a bit of the cake, chewing on it for a few moments before he gave a smile towards her.

"Wow, this is really good! You did great Sakura!" Sakura blushed a little as she returned the smile as Naruto took another bite "Like seriously, this is great! Kakashi-sensei, you have to try some!"

Kakashi shook his head as he held up a hand "I'm good, never really been one for sweets. No offense Sakura."

"O-Oh! None taking sensei!" Naruto quickly stuffed the rest of the piece into his mouth as the sweet taste resonated throughout his body, almost making him tired from how sweet it was. Still, he had things to do; so he couldn't take a break before he really even got started on the day.

"Man that hit the spot, again I appreciate it Sakura!" Naruto gave a thumbs up to Sakura, making her blush deepen a bit as she nodded her head "Oh! While you're here, I guess I can go ahead and tell you."

"Huh? Tell me what?"

"Well; about the new team arrangements. After all, I'm no longer on Team Seven."

"O-Oh right...I guess you can't really go on missions now huh?"

"Haha, well I may sneak out once in a while; but overall the answer is no. Because of that, you and Sasuke are the only ones under Kakashi-sensei for the time being. I have a plan to fix this though, and it requires you to join another team."

"Join...Another team? Like, are me and Sasuke transferring teams?"

"Ah no, nothing like that. While I still have to work out some of the finer details, I plan on promoting one of the genins to chunin; meaning their team will also be a member short. So to fix this problem, I will be combining Team Seven with their team; making a four-person team."

"Four-person team? Has that ever happened before?"

"I...Don't really know; I haven't really studied up on it yet. But Kakashi-sensei said that there's no real rule over it, though...I guess it wouldn't matter if there were."

"I see, so who's team will we be combined with?"

"Ah it's-" Suddenly, Naruto cut himself off as he began to think. He forgot Sakura and Ino really didn't like each other, so it wouldn't be smart to tell her now. Best thing to do would be to wait until they were both in the room together, maybe they could work out their differences then. "It's a surprise."

"Huh? A surprise?"

"Y-Yeah, I mean; give you something to look forward to haha...hah…" Naruto gave an awkward laugh while Kakashi just sighed, though Sakura just nodded.

"I guess…"

"A-Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. Thanks again for the cake; I'll be sure to save some for Sasuke."

"A-Ah Naruto!" Sakura called out to Naruto, surprising him as he raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? What's up?"

"A-Ah…" Sakura didn't really know why she suddenly called out to Naruto, so she felt her face heat up from embarrassment as she tried to find a good reason. "A-Ah I was wondering; if you wanted to go have breakfast together?"

Sakura turned even more red from the question, though Naruto just narrowed his gaze before closing his eyes "No I'm good, but thanks for the offer."

Naruto opened his eyes back up and gave his trademark grin, and though Sakura was disappointed she just returned the smile "A-Ah I see...W-Well, I guess I'll go check up on Sasuke."

Sakura gave a bow towards Naruto before waving to Kakashi as she left the office, giving one last look back as she did.

Seconds passed as Naruto and Kakashi were silent to one another, neither one saying anything. Kakashi was finally the one to break the ice as he looked down at Naruto "I thought you had a crush on her?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb; before you would take that offer up in a heartbeat. Yet I saw you become a bit uneasy when she asked, is there a reason for that?"

Naruto was silent for a few more moments as a small smile graced his lips "First Kurenai and now you."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Yesterday, after assigning Kurenai and Guy their missions; Kurenai asked to talk to me privately. She told me about Hinata's feelings for me and a few other things. Of course, I already know about Hinata's feelings. I learned back during the first round of the Chunin Exams."

"I see, is that why you turned down Sakura's offer?"

"No that's not the reason if I'm honest; I view everyone in this village like a sibling, at least the other genin. I've always viewed Sensei as a father, and you as an uncle; so everybody that wasn't on our team I viewed as a sibling."

"Not on our team?"

"Heh, yeah. I used to view Sasuke as a stuck up pretty boy, and Sakura as the girl of my dreams. But...After the Wave mission, I started to change those views as well. I started to view Sasuke as more of a brother and Sakura as more of just a friend; I guess it was around the start of the Chunin Exams that my feelings for Sakura were pretty much gone."

"I see, well you will be expected to take a wife one day; and until you do, the clans will be doing their best to get in favor with you so you will marry someone from their clan. After all, nobody would turn down a proposal from the Hokage; well it's not like they could."

"Tch, this village was built on arranged marriages, but it's not sustainable. Forcing a marriage with anyone isn't healthy, especially since a negative perception still exists around me. Besides, sensei always told me to marry someone you didn't know growing up."

"Wise words to live by...Well, I'll keep the clan's heads away as much as I can. Though I'm sure, some will still creek by."

"I expected as much if anything I can maybe build relations with them in other ways."

"Yeah, not a bad idea." Kakashi looked back towards the door as he spoke "Still...Is there more to why you turned down Sakura?"

"...It's too sudden is all, yesterday she was treating me like she always does, then all of a sudden she has a crush on me? I see what you mean by being a teenager."

"I would imagine her learning all she did play a role into it as well."

"Yeah, most likely. Well, all I have to do is let time pass, and she'll return to loving Sasuke instead. It's not like learning the truth about my past is going to change how she viewed me for all those years."

"Who knows? Girls are a strange thing to most men."

"I guess...Well, I guess I'll go ahead and start preparing to visit the old man's family. What time does it start?"

"In about two hours."

"Alright, go ahead and get the robes ready. I viewed the Old Man like a grandfather; I have to pay my respects."

* * *

_Hallway_

"Very well, Hokage-sama."

Homura and Koharu both turned towards the door as they began to leave, the ANBU keeping their eyes on them until they both left the office and entered into the hallway. The both of them just stood still, not knowing what to say to one another as the moment hit them like a ton of bricks.

Naruto Uzumaki, the kid that was hated by the village, just fired them on the spot.

It was a fate worse than death; at least death was honorable.

This was just repulsive.

Homura clenched his hand as he punched the wall "Damn him!"

"Homura, I would advise you not to show any frustration," Koharu spoke as she glanced at the ANBU Agent standing at the end of the hallway who had his hand on his sword as he glanced at them. "This is just a minor setback, nothing more."

"Tch, that kid isn't ready for the job. He should lie in wait and study under someone like Danzo, hell if the jonin have a problem with him; it's not like we can't get someone else into the position of the Fifth."

"Even so, the Daimyo and jonin have made their choice. All we can do is wait until he makes a mistake that forces the Daimyo hand; it's just a waiting game."

"Koharu, as a former shinobi; you know as well as anyone that the Hokage can only be replaced due to retirement or death. By the time the kid retires, we'll be long gone from this world."

"Daimyo-sama still has the final say over everything, and if the Hokage was unable to perform the job anymore; then the Daimyo can choose a replacement. All we need to do is wait until that moment."

"With how the ANBU are acting, I doubt that will be anytime soon." Homura looked at the agent from earlier, who pulled his sword out even more as he kept his look on the elders. "Anyway, we should leave. We're not needed here anymore."

Before Koharu could respond, they were interrupted by the sound of a cane as an older looking man appeared from the staircase as the elders looked at him "D-Danzo?"

The man who had appeared was indeed Danzo, who merely just looked at the elders "Judging from the agents around here, It seems the new Hokage has no use for you."

Danzo spoke in a cold tone, causing the elders to glare as Koharu responded "We were dismissed because we recommended to Naruto that you take over as the Fifth Hokage while he learns under you. However, it seems Kakashi already has him by the ear when it comes to you."

Danzo seemed to perk up a little bit at the mention of Kakashi as he coldly responded "Kakashi...Even all these years later, he chooses to side against me."

The elders knew what Danzo was referring to, yet neither said anything as Danzo started to walk towards them.

"Even so, you were fools to attempt a power grab so early. The Jinchuuriki has no idea what this world is like, so he has no reason to resign; especially after obtaining his self-described dream." Danzo stopped just a few feet short of them as the elders tensed up some "I will continue to lead the ANBU ROOT and support our new Hokage, his success does mean prosperity for the village."

Homaru gulped as he shook a bit from Danzo's venom words "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"If the new Hokage succeeds, then it's because he followed through with my plans. If he fails…" Danzo opened his one eye as he spoke in an even colder tone "Then Daimyo-sama will be choosing the Sixth Hokage fairly soon."

* * *

_Chariot_

The Hokage Chariot strolled down the closed off streets towards the Sarutobi manor, as Naruto; dressed in his Hokage Robes and Hat, and Kakashi sat inside.

The ride had been mostly uneventful, Naruto had asked for a few details regarding the private ceremony, but for the most part, the family had kept the plans secret. Naruto didn't particularly mind; he understood that it would be hard to share details of a private ceremony with anybody.

So Naruto spent most of his time looking out the window, observing the buildings and people that they strolled by. While the streets the chariot was crossing on were closed down, he could still see onto other streets where people were packed together just trying to get a glimpse of the Chariot when it passed.

Many of the children waved at him, while the adults looked on in confusion and awe. They couldn't see into the chariot of course, but just knowing that your leader was passing by was something that could be awe-inspiring.

It was a weird feeling to Naruto for sure, especially since people barely ever paid attention to him. Sure they were more so interested in the chariot and also didn't know he was Hokage, but it still a strange feeling nonetheless.

As Naruto looked out the window in a somewhat bewildered manner, Kakashi casually spoke to him "Usually it's the civilians who are amazed to see the Hokage, not the other way around."

"A-Ah no...I-I'm just not used to so much attention, that's all."

"Well, might as well get used to it. Because the reactions you're going to get when you're well known are going to be much more interesting than what you're getting now." Naruto nodded as he kept looking outside to the civilians, wondering what was currently running through each of their heads at the moment.

The two didn't say anything more to each other for a few more moments as the sound of wheels spinning was the only thing that broke the silence, along with the distant whispers of the villagers.

Finally; the chariot began to come to a stop as Naruto looked out the other window and saw a large mansion, surrounded by ANBU on all sides, along with a woman in a wheelchair waiting in front of the doors.

Naruto recognized the woman as Konohamaru's mother, Ibiki Sarutobi, and mentally swallowed as his only meeting with her was when he was caught teaching Konohamaru some of the...Finer...Aspects of the Sexy Technique.

Still, that was then, and this is now. He had heard she was the new head of the clan in the wake of the Old Man's death, and that meant she had been present during his private ceremony. Maybe the speech he made up on the fly changed any previous thoughts she had about him?

Well, it was a nice thought if anything.

Once the chariot came to a full stop, Kakashi got up and opened the chariot doors as he walked out and stood on one side of the doors; the signal for Naruto to follow.

Rehearsing some words he had come up with in his mind, Naruto pushed himself up and left the Chariot; the local Sarutobi guards were kneeling in respect when he did so. Taking one more deep breath, Naruto walked over to Ibiki with Kakashi close behind.

"Good morning Hokage-sama, it's an honor to have you here today." Ibiki gave a smile and as good of a bow as she could as Naruto nodded in response.

"It's good to be here; I always enjoyed coming here with Konohamaru."

"Yes well, the circumstances are much different this time it seems. I wish to warn you off the bat that almost the entire clan has gathered here today for father's private funeral; so I apologize in advance for any disrespect they may show you. I assure you, it's merely because they either come from another village or-"

"It's fine; I understand." Naruto held a hand up and spoke in as gentle of a tone he could, wanting to show that he already expected some pushback from a few members.

"Well, it's still an embarrassment if such a thing happens. But thank you for understand, lord." Ibiki turned towards the butler beside her and motioned for him to prepare some drinks before she turned back towards Naruto "Shall we head inside?"

"Of course, I know this is a private ceremony; so I can have Kakashi stay outside if needed."

"Oh, it's not a problem! Kakashi is an old friend of mine from back in the day; I would never turn him away." Naruto raised an eyebrow as he turned back towards Kakashi.

"You know each other?"

Kakashi nodded as he stuffed his hands in his pockets "Yeah, from back when we were in the ANBU together. Though we never went on any missions together or anything."

"I see…" Naruto turned back towards Ibiki as he reformed his smile "Well Lady Ibiki, shall we head inside?"

"Most certainly, Hokage-sama." Ibiki went to motion for her one of her guards to help push her in, though before she could; Naruto had gone around her and grabbed her handles.

"I can help you get in."

"O-Oh no, I wouldn't dare have the Hokage inconvenience himself!"

"It's no issue; I enjoy helping people out." Ibiki went to protest more but stopped when she saw Naruto smile at her. Knowing she was in a losing argument, she just sighed and gave a small smile.

"Well, I thank you Hokage-sama." Naruto nodded once again as the guards lead them towards the door as Kakashi followed close behind and into the mansion."

As soon as they crossed into the main floor, the first person to greet them was a woman with Lavender Hair, and Charcoal eyes bow towards them…

Well...Bow in a direction close to them…

The woman bowed towards the window next to the main doors as she spoke: "It's an honor to meet you Hokage-sama."

The woman stood up straight and walked over to the window as she felt around before her hands landed on one of the guards; which caused her to back up some and bow again.

The guard had a confused look on his face as Ibiki just sighed "This is my cousin from my husband's side. She's as blind as a bat without her glasses, so I apologize for her behavior."

"A-Ah it's alright." Naruto meant it, though he was confused why this woman was walking around without her glasses on anyway. Ibiki looked around on the floor before she spotted a pair of red glasses in front of them.

"There they are...Can someone grab them for her?" One of the guards nodded as he picked them up and handed them to the woman, who quickly placed them on her face.

After having her eyesight restored, the woman quickly located Naruto as she jumped in front of him and bowed "It's an honor to meet you Hokage-sama."

After repeating her line from earlier, Naruto just nodded as sweat rolled down his face "Likewise, Naruto Uzumaki is my real name; feel free to use it if you wish."

"Very well Naruto-sama!" Naruto meant it as an informal greeting so he could begin building relationships, but she didn't take it that way. "I am Ayame Sarutobi! Currently working as an assassin for my country!"

"I-I see... _Well if anything, I'm definitely highly protected now._ I hope we can get along Miss Ayame." Naruto gave a small bow in return to her before he looked back down at Ibiki "Lady Ibiki, is everyone awake yet?"

"Some of the younger ones are still asleep, but all of the adults should be awake and somewhere in the manor at the moment. Father's body is being held in the casket just up ahead in the main room if you wish to go ahead and rest in there."

"Ah sure, that would be great." Ibiki nodded as Ayame took the wheelchair from Naruto and the group walked forward into the main room, couches all around with a black casket was standing alone in the middle of the room, the sight of it making Naruto somewhat tense.

"Is everything alright Hokage-sama?"Naruto snapped out of his gaze as he quickly nodded towards Ibiki.

"A-Ah yeah. Sorry."

"No need to apologize, I know you looked up to him as a mentor, so I know this can't be easy on you." Naruto slowly nodded as one of the guards led Naruto to the couch on the very back of the room, the only one draped with the Konoha flag. "Hokage-sama, I apologize that we don't have a more suitable couch; but this is our most prized one."

"Now you're the one who doesn't need to apologize. I'm fine with any seat after all!" Ibiki laughed as she looked at Ayame.

"Ayame, please go and gather everyone and have them looking as respectable as possible." Ayame quickly bowed towards Ibiki as she went off to find everyone.

"Kakashi, go ahead and help her out."

"Huh?" Kakashi looked down at Naruto as he raised an eyebrow "Why?"

"It's a rather big mansion, so helping her could speed things up; besides…" Naruto motioned for Kakashi to come a bit closer as he said the next part "Try to tell Konohamaru first, I want to talk to him one last time before the others arrive."

Kakashi sighed but nodded as he left the main room and joined Ayame in gathering the other members of the family.

Kakashi and Ayame quietly walked up the stairs of the manor, neither one saying anything to one another as they didn't know each other at all. Sure, they both had heard of their names, Kakashi of the Sharingan and Ayame the Assassin were familiar names, but neither knew anything personal about one another.

Still, Kakashi also knew that gathering information was necessary; and he wouldn't gain anything by staying silent "So, you and Ibiki are cousins?"

"That is correct; her father in law was the grand uncle of my father. Though despite bearing the lineage, I do not know much of the Sarutobi family. I've been an Assassin all of my life, and therefore I mostly work in the shadows."

"I see. I heard you're a former member of an underground criminal syndicate. Of course; you're not wanted in the Fire Country, but I know that you gave the Water Country some trouble in the past before."

"Hmph, I was trained under my master and joined out of obligation. However, I now work as a freelancer, carrying out missions that I deem suitable to my own values. I won't kill anyone who doesn't deserve death or a high ranking official."

"If that's the case, I'm surprised you even came to the private ceremony. Especially since you don't have any personal ties other than blood."

"It would be a dishonor not to attend the passing of a Kage; I've done so in the past. This is just the first time I was directly related, and therefore I was invited to the private ceremony."

"Then I assume you came alone?"

"Ah yes, not that I wanted to…" Ayame went silent for a moment, causing Kakashi to stare at her.

"Is everything alright?"

"Y-Yeah, it's just...I wanted the love of my life to come with me today you see, but he's a Samurai…"

"Samurai? So he's from the Iron Country?"

"W-Well...Maybe it was good he didn't come, it be bad if he tied me up in front of everyone~" Ayame blushed a deep red as she ignored Kakashi's question, making him give a concerned look.

" _Tied up? That doesn't sound like a very healthy relationship to me._ " Noticing her red face and heavier breathing, Kakashi coughed into his hand to interrupt her "A-Anyway, Hokage-sama wished for Konohamaru to join first; apparently he has something he wishes to say to him."

Collecting herself, Ayame nodded as she pointed towards room "R-Right, it's this room over here."

The two of them walked over towards the door as Ayame knocked before opening it. As soon as the door opened, Konohamaru looked up from his bed "Huh? Auntie Ayame?...Oh! Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi gave a wave as Yuri looked at Kakashi "Huh? Kakashi-sensei?"

Konohamaru nodded towards her before he looked back at Kakashi "So why are you here sensei; are you a special guest today?"

"Well, in a way you could say that. Though; I'm really more of a bodyguard for another one of today's guest who just arrived." It took a moment for Konohamaru to put two and two together, but once he did, he went eye wide.

"H-Huh!? You mean Boss is here!?"

"Yep, he's actually waiting for you downstairs." Konohamaru grew a broad smile as he hopped off of his bed and straightened his clothes out.

"Ah yeah! I can't wait till everybody sees how boss is!" Kakashi gave a small smile, though Yuri still had a confused face.

"Huh? Boss? You have a job, Kono?"

"Of course not! I obviously mean Naruto!"

"Naruto?" Yuri gave a questioning head tilt as Ayame walked over to her and bent down.

"Yuri, he means that Hokage-sama has arrived."

"Hokage-sama?...I thought it was Raikage-sama?" Everybody sighed as Konohamaru grabbed onto Yuri's hand.

"Here, come with me, and I'll show you." Konohamaru lead Yuri out of the room and down the stairs as Ayame sighed.

"You would think kids her age would know about all the Kage's, right Kakashi?"

"A-Ah yeah."

"Anyway; next we should go to the elders and inform them since their the closet."

"Closet?"

"Yeah, we divided everyone among the guest rooms. Children in this room, elders in another; then male adults, female adults; male teenagers and female teenagers, with babies and toddlers staying with their mothers."

"I see; I'm surprised there were only two kids."

"We have quite a few teenagers, so it seems many of them just had kids at around the same time and didn't have anymore. Well, shall we go?"

"Yeah, let's go ahead and get going." Ayame nodded as she lead Kakashi to the room closet to Konohamaru's, neither one saying anything to one another as Ayame reached out and knocked on the next door.

It took a few moments, but soon a voice rang out for them to come in.

Ayame grabbed the door handle and opened it, revealing inside many people of varying backgrounds. It was apparent that many were from Konoha; though Kakashi only recognized a few of them. However, some bore headbands from other villages; while others had dresswear from one of the smaller countries.

The elders all eyed the two with looks of calm but sternness; they all knew why they were being called, but they also weren't afraid to confront the Hokage. Many of them wanted to apply direct pressure to the new Hokage, to see if he had the mental might to succeed the Third.

Ayame and Kakashi looked over the elderly group with wary eyes, they knew that out of everyone the elders may pose the most problems when they find out the Hokage; yet they still had a job to do.

Taking a deep breath, Ayame stood firm as she spoke "Honorable Elders! I'm here to announce that Hokage-sama has arrived, and Lady Ibiki has summoned the entire household to the main floor to begin the proceedings.

The elders all just calmly nodded, however, none of them moved. This confused Ayame and Kakashi for a moment, yet, that confusion was answered as one of the oldest elders looked at them and shakily pushed himself up with assistance from the others as he leaned onto his cane. "I believe it would be alright to inquire who the Fifth is?"

Kakashi immediately recognized the man as the Third's cousin, Hochi Sarutobi, a former ANBU agent and former head of the Retired Ninja Council. He was only of Konoha's most formidable shinobi back in the day; his power was said to have rivaled the Second Hokage. However, he was merely a weak and feeble old man now; most of his strength sapped after massive injuries from the Kyuubi attack.

Ayame looked at Kakashi and gave a questioning look as if asking if it would be alright. Kakashi just gave a small nod as he stepped forward "You will meet with Hokage-sama as soon as you enter onto the main floor, so telling you who he is right now isn't a problem. However, as always, telling anybody outside of this mansion without permission and before the ceremony; will be met with a rather unfortunate end."

None of the elders flinched, it wasn't the first time they had been told something like that. They were used to threats regarding information, even from someone like Kakashi.

After the elders just nodded and said no more, Kakashi took a deep breath as he spoke "Fifth Hokage-sama is somebody that I've known for a good bit of time now. I was trained by his father, and I was one of the ANBU who watched over former First Lady Kushina. He is someone this village has long held a false content for due to the wishes of some of the higher-ups. His name...Is Naruto Uzumaki."

Immediately some of the elders looked at Kakashi as he had gone mad, while others merely raised an eyebrow since they had only heard his name briefly before. Everybody in the room was surprised, having expected one of the Sannin to have been picked.

There was silence for several moments before Hochi gave a small sigh "I see...So Hiruzen's second successor is the son of his first successor? I pray that he doesn't have the same emotional attachments that his father does; after all, the Hokage is to put the village before his personal family."

Kakashi glared at Hochi after the remarks but didn't say anything more as the other elders seemed to nod in agreement with Hochi, causing Kakashi to send a glare at all of them as he turned back around. "Kakashi…"

Ayame quietly said Kakashi's name, yet he just responded with a low tone "Be at the main floor as soon as you can."

Kakashi left without saying anything more; leaving Ayame to bow towards the elders and shut the doors.

The elders all just kept their stares on the door as Hochi quietly said under his breath "This village has too many emotional attachments."

* * *

As soon as Ayame closed the doors, she turned and walked over to Kakashi who was already moving onto another room "Kakashi, I apologize for the remarks by my own blood."

Kakashi stopped as he kept staring ahead, his eye closed "What are you apologizing for? They're just a bunch of washed up shinobi stuck in the past."

"Even still...I don't know much about you, but I can tell you're very close to Naruto-sama; almost like a father figure to a degree. I also wasn't aware that Naruto-sama was the son of the Fourth Hokage; who was your sensei. I can imagine that their words cut rather deep."

"A father figure huh? I don't know about that; a father figure would have done more shield Naruto from some of the abuse he got."

"But you couldn't because of the orders from Hiruzen-sama, disobeying your Kage is the worst offense a Shinobi can commit; other than treason." Kakashi gave a small laugh as he opened his eye and looked back at Ayame.

"You're telling that to someone who at one point tried to assassinate the Third." Ayame showed some shock and surprise on her face as Kakashi told her this as a small smile graced his lips from under his mask as he looked back towards the other doors "If I was at one point willing to do that; then protecting Naruto should have been a no brainer."

"Kakashi…" Ayame didn't say anymore as Kakashi started to walk forward again.

"Well, we still have the others to tell, come on."

"Right…" Ayame joined Kakashi's side, as they went to the other rooms to inform them all to meet in the main room.

* * *

Kakashi sighed but nodded as he left the main room and joined Ayame in gathering the other members of the family, leaving Naruto and Ibiki alone together in the main room with the guards and servants.

A few moments of silence passed before the servant from earlier brought a tray of a wide variety of drinks over to Naruto, surprising him "Huh? What's this?"

Ibiki gave another small laugh as she motioned towards all the drinks "This is every drink we have here in the house, you're free to drink whichever one you want and of course can request refills. We have everything from strong wine, all the way to everyday soda."

Naruto nodded as he looked over all the drinks and reached for the clearest one.

"Oh? Didn't peg you as a heavy drinker."

Naruto immediately dropped his hand after hearing that remark as he sighed "Not to be rude, but I don't exactly drink. I'll just have water."

The servant nodded as he moved the tray over to Ibiki, who picked up a glass of wine as the servant headed back towards the kitchen "I'm a bit surprised, most genin relish the fact they are now able to enjoy a drink; though you're current rank obviously allows you to enjoy."

"W-Well, I've never really seen the point, to be honest. Getting drunk, saying stupid things, doing stupid things...I've seen people really ruin their lives after just one night of drinking, so it's something I shouldn't do; especially now that I'm Hokage."

"You're very mature in that regard, even still, one drink won't ruin your entire life."

"Heh, well let's just say that I've seen sensei drunk and that kinda turned me away from ever trying it."

"Huh? Sensei? You mean Kakashi?"

"A-Ah no...It's a bit of a long story." Naruto gave an awkward laugh as Ibiki leaned back some.

"Well feel free to tell me whenever you want Hokage-sama."

"Sure thing! But before that, stop with all the 'Hokage-sama' stuff; you've known me for a bit as Naruto after all."

"I've only known you as a friend of my son; besides, I called Father 'Hokage-sama' numerous times in private."

"Yeah, but the old man was used to it….Still, how was that?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean becoming part of the Old Man's family; it can't be easy marrying the son of the Hokage." Ibiki looked at Naruto for a moment before she smiled and took a sip of her wine.

"Well it was an experience, to say the least, we were both ANBU agents, so our only free time to chat was on our off days. You see, for the longest time, I was apart of the intelligence operations, so most of my missions revolved around spying and gathering information. I had missions where I had to go on 'blind dates' with potential threats, to missions where I spent every minute of every day watching someone's every action. My husband was above me as he was apart of the Security Operations, and was one of fathers personal bodyguards; meaning he was regarded as one of the best agents around."

"Best agents?"

"It's not surprising you don't know considering you just became Hokage, but the ANBU who have been set to protect you are the greatest shinobi in this entire village. They've seen everything from death, to torture, to even slavery. They've dealt with it all and lived to tell the tale; to be assigned to protect the Hokage is the highest honor an ANBU agent can receive other than being named Hokage themselves. After all, not only can they not allow the Hokage to perish, but they must also not allow anybody to learn of their true identities. Being apart of the ANBU requires both you to sustain a healthy social life along with dealing with intense and cruel missions."

"Wow, that's pretty amazing actually. I bet that means you were awesome back in the day huh?"

"Heh...I guess so. Intelligence Agents are at the very bottom of the pole in term of ANBU rank. Not that we're weak or anything, but we're the most unproven, and it takes years to receive recognition from the higher-ups; even if you are the best at your job. The only reason I ever moved up was because of my husband actually; we met each on a co-op mission once and through our relationship; he told his father, Third Hokage-sama, about me. A few weeks later, I'm promoted to Espionage Operations. Still a low rank, but I still felt good about getting some recognition."

Ibiki gave a laugh as she took another sip of her wine, as the servant entered back into the room with a tray full of water. Making Naruto laugh nervously as he grabbed one and thanked the servant before he looked back at Ibiki. "I see...If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your husband and how did you obtain your current injuries? I'm just a bit curious because Konohamaru was crying about it yesterday."

"It's not a problem; I have nothing to hide. A few years ago, my husband retired from the ANBU and immediately set out to Iwagakure to talk to a business partner he had met to begin discussions about opening some sort of business together. The entire process was shady to me, but my husband was very confident in the whole thing. Sadly, my suspicions were worth something, because he was ambushed and though he put up a valiant effort; he was struck down."

Ibiki gripped her drink tightly, something that didn't go unnoticed by Naruto as he reached down and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I still remember the anger and sadness I felt when I was informed of what had happened, how I had grabbed my gear and set off, despite still being apart of the ANBU. I was practically committing treason by not getting permission, but I didn't care. I wanted revenge for my husband. I completely ignored Konohamaru and put my own ambitions first; I'm not afraid to admit that. I remember finding the men who killed him and battling them; killing as many as I could. Honestly, I should have died in that fight. I only survived based on the anger I was feeling at the time that gave me strength. Like my husband, I lost the fight. However, I wasn't killed completely; and days later while on the verge of death, I was found by a search party from Konoha. My legs are forever numb because of that fight, and honestly, I should be dead. If not from the killers, then from the Hokage. Yet he spared my life, saying that his son would disapprove of him killing his wife because of her selfish reasons. Though I think the main reason he spared me was because he didn't want Konohamaru to lose both of his parents so close to one another."

Ibiki wiped away the tears coming down her eyes as Naruto eyed her sadly as he looked down and hid his own eyes with his hat "I'm sorry Ibiki...I should have been more considerate and just looked up the details myself. I'm sorry."

"No...It's fine, the fact I still can't move on is just a sign of weak I really am. I'm glad you became friends with Konohamaru, I had to put on a public face of disgust at it but...All I can is I'm sorry."

"I've heard that phrase more in the past two days than I ever did in my entire life, and every time I answer with a simple, it's fine. But Konohamaru was strong before I became friends with him, and he will always be strong no matter what. It's not because of anything I did, but it's because he has a mother that continues to push on every day despite everything that she has had to face in her life. To me, that's something that is even more impressive than achieving one's dream."

"Heh...You sound just like my husband, always an optimistic view on life. Who knows, maybe my husband used you to help Konohamaru along in life; to let him know he's always there."

"I don't doubt that one bit." Naruto gave a smile as Ibiki looked at him and returned it, the two of them acknowledging with one another that they both had a responsibility to help Konohamaru along the way.

On cue, the sound of feet running could be heard as Konohamaru soon ran onto the main floor and into the main room, pulling Yuri along with him as he stopped in front of his mother and Naruto.

Immediately, Konohamaru was a bit jaw dropped when he saw Naruto in his robes and hat; a sight he had tried to imagine, but the actual thing was even more amazing. If it weren't for the fact that all the eyes in the room were now on him, he would have just kept staring "Ah Konohamaru, nice to see you again!"

Naruto gave a smile as he called out to Konohamaru, who gulped as he nodded. "Y-You, to boss!"

"Kono! Who is your boss you're talking about?" Yuri jumped in front of Konohamaru and yelled out, causing him to sigh.

"Isn't it obvious? It's Naruto of course!"

"Who's Naruto?"

"He's the one in the robes behind you." Yuri raised an eyebrow as she looked behind her and at Naruto, who just gave a small wave as she raised an eyebrow.

"Why does he have on clothes that look like Raikage-sama's?"

"Because he's the Hokage! Meaning that he's the leader of our village."

"Hm...So, he's kinda like Raikage-sama?"

"Not kinda, he is like the Raikage! He's one of the five Kage's alongside the Raikage meaning he's just as powerful as the Raikage!"

Yuri had a surprised look on her face as she spoke with a hint of nervousness "R-Really?"

"Yes really! That's why I'm so excited that he's here! He's my best friend and the leader of our village!" Yuri's eyes went wide as she looked back at Naruto, who again gave an awkward wave as he smiled at her.

"W-Wow! Mama always told me that Raikage-sama could only be matched in power by a few other ninjas! I-It's amazing you're friends with someone so strong Kono!"

"Ehehe! Well, I know how to pick my friends."

Naruto gave an awkward laugh as he tried to call out "H-Hey Konohamaru, maybe tone down the pra-"

"I-It's an honor to meet you, sir!" Yuri called out to Naruto before he could finish, as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small flower as she nervously walked over to Naruto "M-Mama always told me to show respect to Raikage-sama! I-If you're as powerful and important as him, t-then please take this!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he took the small flower out of the girl's hand and looked at it, it wasn't anything special, but he could tell that she meant her praise. He gave a small smile as he placed the flower behind his ear and nodded "Thanks, this is an awesome gift!"

"I-I'm glad sir!" Yuri said this very nervously as she backed up some, not knowing how to react to the presence of someone on the same wavelength as the Raikage.

Konohamaru pumped out his chest; feeling vindicated that his best friend was being praised right in front of him "You should see boss sometime! He's taught me so many amazing jutsus and training techniques! It's thanks to him that I'm already on the road to becoming the Sixth Hokage!"

"R-Really Kono? You're just like Raikage-sama! Moma told me that Raikage-sama learned from his own papa, who was the Raikage before him!"

"Ehehe, I guess you could compare me to him!" Konohamaru was now enjoying the praise that was being thrown onto him, making Naruto give a small laugh.

Ibiki though just eyed her son with a small smile, happy to see the air of despair that had been following him seemed to have vanished.

The scene lasted like this for several more minutes, with Yuri giving praise to both Naruto and Konohamaru; with Naruto and Ibiki just watching with amused looks.

However, the scene was interrupted as slow prodding footsteps, and canes could be heard, and eventually, the elders walked into the main floor; causing an air of uneasiness to sweep through the room that didn't go unnoticed by Naruto or Ibiki,

The elders all just eyed Naruto suspiciously; the ones from Konoha not wanting to believe their eyes while the foreign elders seemed to be sizing him up. Naruto just returned the look with a small smile, knowing that he couldn't show any weakness.

Silence followed for a few moments as Konohamaru and Yuri just looked back and forth between the two sides, neither one making a move. The tense staredown was finally settled when Ibiki cleared her throat and spoke: "Honorable Elders, please have a seat on the couch to the right."

The elders didn't say anything as they all walked over and sat down one by one, none of them giving any respectful bows or nods to Naruto as they did so. Once they were all comfortable, Naruto cleared his own throat as he spoke: "It's a pleasure to meet the ol- I mean Hiruzen-sama's relatives."

The elders barely flinched as they kept their suspicious glares on him, the irritation on Ibiki's face was obvious, but she didn't say anything about their attitudes. Finally, the oldest member of the elders spoke "Naruto Uzumaki, son of the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, and now the Fifth Hokage of Konoha. My name is Hochi Sarutobi, and if I must be frank, I'm surprised you were even considered, let alone approved as the next Hokage."

Konohamaru and Ibiki both narrowed their gazes at those words, yet Naruto remained calm "You're not the only one, I was surprised when I got the news myself personally."

Naruto gave a small laugh, yet Hochi made no such gesture "I hope you take the position of Kage more serious than a simple joke. Frankly; the fact that anybody related to the Fourth would even be chosen is a notion that is hard to grasp."

Naruto lost his smile as he looked at the elders, the words making him a bit on edge "What do you mean?"

"The Fourth Hokage was a man driven by emotion, and not anything else. If he hadn't sacrificed himself to save you, then not only would he still be in power, but Hiruzen would be alive as well. He was a failure in that regard."

Naruto clenched his glove hand as he took a deep breath, Ibiki looking at him with a worried look as she injected into the conversation "Honorable Hochi, please refrain from insulting Hokage-sama, this is not the place to have this-"

"Lady Ibiki, please stay out of this conversation." Ibiki was caught off guard by this as Naruto got even madder "Really this entire village is in shambles, not only do they name the son of a failed Kage as our new leader, but the one who takes over as the head of my clan wasn't even born into it, she simply married into it. Really it's amazing that we're even still sta-"

"Quiet." It was now Naruto's turn to interrupt as he looked at Hochi and gave a deadpanned response, causing the old man to raise an eyebrow.

"What did you-"

"I said to be quiet." Naruto gave an even more deadpanned and venomous remark, causing Hochi to glare at him.

"You are in the Sarutobi manor young man, do not try to act like you own the place."

"And you are in the presence of the Hokage and the clan leader, do not try to act like you own the place either." Naruto glared at Hochi as Ibiki felt sweat run down the back of her neck thanks to the intent Naruto was giving off towards Hochi.

"Hmph, despite your titles, you are both unsuited for your positions. The clan leader isn't a blood relative of any of us, and the Hokage is the son of a fail-"

"You don't know anything about my dad!" Naruto gripped his hand as he yelled out to Hochi "Yeah, I never knew him either! But I know he loved me and that he loved this village! I felt it when I put on the outfit he passed down to me! So you can shut the hell up."

"A feeling? How ab-"

"I do think it's time you obey the Hokage Hochi Sarutobi." The sound of metal could be heard as Hochi felt it's cold exterior inches from the back of his head.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto instinctively said this under his breath as Kakashi had appeared behind Hochi and had aimed a kunai down at the back of his neck. "I'm surprised you're back already."

"Me and Ayame split up, I grabbed the men, and she grabbed the women. The men will be down soon; I don't know about the women, however. But Hochi, I think you should keep that mouth quiet from now on."

Hochi gritted his teeth as the other elders just looked at Kakashi with intrigued, none of them really taking a side and just more interested in what could potentially transpire. However, he wasn't keen to listening "Or what? Is the Hokage going to kill me in front of my entire family, on the day of a private funeral no less?"

Kakashi narrowed his eye as he looked over at Naruto, yet Naruto stayed quiet as he looked at Ibiki. She nodded as she turned her attention to Kakashi "Kakashi, please escort Hochi out of the house."

"Kicking me out? What a snake-like move from the clan leader; I'm simply stating my thoughts on the matter, is that so-"

"Hochi." Naruto spoke with a cold tone as he continued "Lady Ibiki is the head of the Sarutobi clan and has direct control over you; so you will now leave."

"...Or what?" Hochi tried to stay resilient, but as soon as the words left his mouth; a cold feeling overtook the entire room as everybody felt an intensity bear down on them.

Ibiki gulped as she kept her stare on Hochi and whispered: "They're in position…"

Naruto was able to barely hear Ibiki, and he had a good feeling on who she was talking about. "Do you want to take that risk?"

Hochi continued to stay stubborn as he folded his arms "I have nowhere to go; kicking me out isn't an-"

_*Snap*_

The sound of fingers snapping could be heard from Kakashi, and almost immediately after…

"Agh!"

The sound of a scream and flesh being struck were heard simultaneously as four ANBU agents suddenly appeared around Hochi, two in the back and two in the front. The ones behind him stabbing both of his shoulder blades and the two in the front stabbing his legs, they weren't mortal wounds by a longshot; but they were enough to stop his movements.

Naruto was a bit taken back by this but tried not to show it by lowering his hat while Konohamaru quickly grabbed Yuri and moved her face away. Ibiki and the other elders just eyed Hochi with an expressionless face, not the first time they had seen such a tactic used.

Naruto coughed into his hand as he spoke to the agents "Take him to the hospital and treat his wounds; he's not allowed to return here until Ibiki Sarutobi gives him permission, however."

"Lord!" All four agents yelled out in unison before vanishing in a puff of smoke, along with Hochi. Even the blood that had been spilled was immediately gone. Naruto was a bit tense after seeing all that, yet Ibiki just sighed.

"Apologies for his behavior Hokage-sama."

"I-It's fine. Sorry for having to resort to that."

"No apologies are needed, my lord." Naruto nodded as Ibiki had taken back up her act as House leader since the elders were now present.

Konohamaru let out a breath he didn't know he had while Yuri nervously looked to see if anything else would happen. The other elders, however, seemed to nod in approval at Naruto for some reason, which only confused him even more.

Kakashi just sighed as he placed his kunai back into his vest as he looked at the casket " _This could have started off a lot better."_

* * *

Despite everything that had happened, the mood seemed to settle down as they waited for the others to arrive; the first group being the teenage boys.

Naruto recognized the few from Konoha, they were all his seniors at the academy after all; and almost all of them were shinobi. The ones who weren't from Konoha immediately bowed towards Naruto out of respect; and while the ones from Konoha were shocked and surprised, they eventually followed suit as the entire group sat on the couch to the left.

The next group were the grown men, all of them were veteran shinobi's from their looks, and they all bowed towards Naruto when they walked in; even the ones from Konoha who weren't jonin bowed towards him without any hesitation as they joined the teenage boys on the left couch.

After a few more minutes of small talk and refreshments being supplied, another group walked in. They were the teenage girls, and though a few of them were obviously shinobi; the majority of them weren't. They all had on black kimonos with the shinobi's wearing their headbands from their respective village.

The Konoha girls were taken back some when they saw Naruto, yet they still bowed towards him along with the others. However, unlike the men, the girls all kept their eyes on Naruto and whispering to one another. Naruto didn't really know what they were talking about, but the giggles he heard from them made him think they were either admiring him or making fun of him. They all sat at the far end couch opposite of Naruto's.

The final group were the adult women, who were accompanied by Ayame. They had the same clothing as the teenagers, yet many more headbands were in their group. They all bowed towards Naruto without hesitation as they joined the teenage girls on the far couch; with Yuri joining them after she saw her mother and ran over to her and Konohamaru joining Naruto on the back couch.

Once everybody was seated, Ibiki motioned for the servants to collect all of the empty drinks as everybody quickly finished their beverages. Once the drinks were all cleaned up, Ibiki coughed into her hand as one of the servants pushed her forward to the middle.

Giving one last look around, she began speaking "Welcome, honorable members of the Sarutobi family. We've been together for the past few days of course, but other than the introductory meal we've not had time to chat and get to know one another."

"Obviously, in this situation, I had hoped that such a day where we would gather would not be because of a dark situation such as this." She looked towards the casket as everybody sadly nodded, even the ones who didn't know Hiruzen all that well still could hear the pain in Ibiki's voice "But we can't change what has already happened, and because of that; all we can do now is celebrate the wonderful life of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konoha."

Ibiki continued on; detailing Hiruzen's life and how he rose to the role of Hokage. How he was a well-respected man in the village; and how he might go down as the greatest Hokage is the history of the village.

Naruto, however, had a bit of trouble staying focused. Memories of Hiruzen were flooding his mind, and if it wasn't for his hat; someone may have seen a tear run down his face. Naruto viewed the old man as a grandfather, and while he didn't agree with everything that Hiruzen did; he still thought highly of the former Hokage.

"Yet even in times such as this, we are a strong family; and this is a strong village. We will move forward, all of us. Already, we have ushered in a new age with our new Hokage." Everybody turned towards Naruto as he perked his head up towards her "Hiruzen-sama always told me that he hopes that the Fifth Hokage would be someone younger than him; well it's hard to get much younger than our new Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto gave a small smile at the line as she continued "The future is what we make it, that's what he always used to say to me. Even after I disobeyed orders and tried to avenge my husband...He still told me to keep living and make the future to what I want it to be, and I want it to be a place where my son and the other children of the world can live in peace."

Everybody nodded as Konohamaru looked down some, causing Naruto to pat him on the back. "He was a man that you could rely on, someone that would never let you down. I felt like I could talk to him about anything; I really felt like he was the only one who would listen sometimes."

Naruto nodded, knowing that feeling all too well. He couldn't count how many times that he went to the Third rather than Jiraiya or Iruka when it came to certain issues. "I don't want to ramble on, as many people here have things they wish to say, but I want to end with this. Never take anything for granted, and never doubt yourself. Hiruzen-sama taught us the importance of believing in ourselves and our village, and that is something I think we should all respect. With that said, I now welcome Tut Sarutobi for his remarks."

One of the older men nodded and walked over to Ibiki, and for the next hour; it was nothing but family members telling tales of Hiruzen and how much he meant to them. Some stories would be funny, others heartwarming, some heartbreaking. But everyone told of how amazing Hiruzen was; and how they were all so lucky to have known him in their lives.

Many had to hold back tears, and even Naruto had to hide his face at times with his hat. Finally, after about an hour and a half, the last person spoke as Ibiki took back over.

"Now...There's one last person I would like to ask if they have anything to say. Naruto-sama." Ibiki looked over at Naruto as he felt his heart trying to burst out of his chest "Would you like to say something?"

Naruto gulped as he nodded, prompting Kakashi to lean down and whisper "Do you have anything planned?"

"I thought of a few things." Naruto quickly whispered back as he pushed himself up as everybody's eyes landed on him. He slowly walked over to the casket, every step feeling like he had a thousand pounds on his shoulders.

Once he reached the casket, Naruto looked down as he extended his hand and ran it over the wood; the only thing stopping him from feeling it directly were his gloves. Taking another gulp, Naruto reached up and took his hat off as he laid it at the head of the casket.

He was silent for a few more moments before he looked up and began speaking "I personally think, this hat looks a lot better on Hiruzen-sama than it does on me."

Some of the family gave small chuckles as Naruto had a small smile on his face as he tried to find the right words "Ever since I was young, I had always dreamed of becoming Hokage. I always wanted to be the Fifth Hokage; it was always my dream to succeed the old man. But I never wanted it to happen the way it did; but as Lady Ibiki said, we can't change the past."

"I grew up without my parents, both of them were killed when the Kyuubi attacked on the day I was born. Yet I still had people to look up to. Jiraiya of the legendary sannin might be the reason why I'm even Hokage; after all, I wouldn't be anything without his training. Iruka Umino, a teacher at the academy, was always like a big brother to me. I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without them...But the person I might have looked up to and idolized the most was Hiruzen Sarutobi."

Naruto put his hands together as he tried to piece his words together "I was bullied, hated and ignored by many people of this village growing up. It was a feeling I hope no kid ever has to go through again. Despite that, Hiruzen was always there for me; he always encouraged me to keep moving forward and to never lose out on hope. I don't blame anybody in the village for how I was treated going up, and Hiruzen played a big part in that."

"I don't know how well I'll do as Hokage; I have two big pairs of shoes to fill after all. Not only do I have to fill the shoes of the great Hiruzen, but I also have to fill the shoes of the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze...Or as I like to call him, my dad." A few gasps and whispered could be heard as Naruto gave a small smile "I know that Hiruzen is looking down on me and watching over me along with my parents, and I can't do anything but say, thank you."

Naruto had a tear run down his face that he quickly wiped off, though many looks of understanding and acceptance could be seen on the family members faces when they saw the tear. "Thank you...To my dear friend and mentor, Hiruzen Sarutobi."

Naruto looked down at the casket as he picked his hat back up as more tears fell down his face "I love you...Old man."

Naruto placed his hat on his head and lowered it as many of the family members gave him looks of sympathy as he walked back over to the couch draped with the Konoha flag and sat down, Konohamaru giving him a hug when he sat down to try to console him while Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder.

Ibiki had a look of sadness on her face, regret filling her for having to ask Naruto to say something. Still, she had to go on. She got back in the middle and spoke: "If nobody has anything else to say, the casket will now be draped."

After no one else spoke up, the servants walked over with a flag of Konoha and draped it over the casket as flowers were brought in and laid at the bottom. After everyone said a small prayer of respect, Ibiki spoke one last time.

"A feast has been prepared to celebrate the life of Hiruzen Sarutobi, and everyone is invited. You can also attend Hokage-sama." Ibiki looked over at Naruto, yet she was hurt to see that he didn't look up as he kept his hat over his eyes. Still, she understood how he was feeling as she motioned for everyone to head on.

Everybody began moving slowly as Naruto stayed put, not wanting to move as more tears ran down his face. He had already accepted that the Third Hokage had passed on, yet just saying all that really drove a stake into his heart about it.

Konohamaru didn't move as he just looked at Naruto and quietly spoke "Boss…"

"Konohamaru, go enjoy the food with your family." Naruto quietly spoke, as he eyes cast a downward glance.

"Come on boss; we would love to have you join us!" Naruto was silent for more moments as he shook his head.

"It's fine; I should head on back anyway."

"Boss, don't be like that."

"It's fine Ko-"

"U-Um…" Naruto and Konohamaru were interrupted by a voice, and when Naruto looked up; he saw many of the teenage girls from earlier standing in front of him with red faces. "H-Hokage-sama…"

"Hm? Yes?" Naruto looked up at the girl who spoke, causing her to redden even more.

"U-Um, would you like to join us? W-We all contributed to the food, and we would be honored if you ate some of it." Naruto was a bit taken back as the girls spoke, never having really been invited to eat with someone before; other than his usual friends.

"A-Ah, but the food you made was for the Sarutobi family. I'm just merely a bystander."

"T-That's not true! Y-You are Uncle Hiruzen's successor, and therefore a part of this family to! S-So it be great if you joined us." The girl held out her hands as she had a black cloth in it, as Naruto reached out and grabbed it as he used it to wipe the tears off his face.

"Well…" Naruto looked down at Konohamaru, who gave him two thumbs up. "Well alright, I guess I can have a few things to enjoy."

"R-Really!?" The girl speaking had some genuine excitement in her voice as Naruto nodded, as the other girls mini squealed and whispered to one another as Naruto pushed himself up.

"You coming Kakashi?"

"Oh no, I have a few things to take care of. Don't worry; I'll be close by."

"Ah, alright then." Naruto lowered his hat as he tied it around his neck as the girls got even redder from seeing his full face again as all of them plus Konohamaru accompanied Naruto to the dining hall.

Kakashi on the other hand just walked over to Ayame who was the only family member still present. "Not going to eat?"

"No, I'm about to head out myself. I have a few things I have to take care of before I return home."

"I see, well before you do; mind if I ask you a question."

"Hm? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah everything's fine; I just need to know something."

"That is…?"

"Are the reports true that the Fourth Mizukage passed away?" Ayame raised an eyebrow as she thought.

"Hm...I'm guessing you're asking because of how secret they are with information and also because of the bad blood between the Fire and Water Countries. When I snuck in the other day for an assassination mission, I heard of such murmurs but nothing definitive."

"I see, well...If you hear anything, be sure to let us know."

"May I ask why you're interested?"

"It's simple." Kakashi gave a small smile as he closed his eye "I feel like Naruto might actually be able to make them into an ally if they have a new Kage."

* * *

The sun shown over an orange sky as Naruto had been with the Sarutobi family all day, initially he was only going to stay for the feat. But he got caught up in storytelling, playing games with Yuri and Konohamaru; and even doing something called flower fortunes with the girls.

To say he was tired would be an understatement.

Naruto carried himself to the door as he shook everybody's hand and had brief chats until finally, he was outside; with the entire family in front of the manor with Ibiki talking to him. "Thank you for coming today Naruto; it really did mean a lot."

"Thank you for having me Ibiki; I'm sorry for losing myself a bit there."

"No need to apologize; it's clear that you were very close with him; I can't judge you for using human emotion." Naruto gave a nod and a small smile as Konohamaru ran up to him.

"Boss, you gotta come and play again sometime! Today was a lot of fun!"

"Well, next time I come over it should be on much happier circumstances I hope. Of course; it's not like I'm leaving the village; we can see each other every day you know."

"A-Ah yeah…" Konohamaru laughed as he scratched the back of his head, causing Naruto to ruffle his hair.

"Well, I should be heading on." Naruto grabbed his hat from around his neck and placed it on his head.

"Naruto-sama!" Naruto looked up as the girls from earlier ran up to him, each holding a box in their hands.

"Hm? What's up?"

"W-We all made something for you!" They all held out the boxes in their hands, causing Naruto to scratch his head.

"A-Ah thanks, but I can't-" Before Naruto could finish, several ANBU appeared and grabbed the presents from the girls as they looked at Naruto.

"We'll inspect the presents and then deliver them to your office sir." After saying that, they vanished as Naruto gave an eye roll.

"Well, that takes care of that…" The girls laughed as Naruto tipped his hat to them and turned around as they all had sad looks as they held their hands out towards him.

'He's so dreamy; I wished I lived here.'

'I do live here, and he still feels so far away! Why did I never talk to him in school?'

'Maybe I should ask my parents if we can move here?'

Naruto heard the girls as he let out an awkward chuckle, not used to such comments as Kakashi joined him by his side.

"You seem tired."

"Well, today was much longer than I thought it would be sensei." Kakashi nodded as he reached out to open the carriage, but once more was stopped.

"Hokage-sama." Naruto looked behind him and saw the elders from before, making him sweat. The elders to speak was a man in the middle missing an eye "My name is Pollo Sarutobi. I apologize for my brother earlier."

"Brother? Oh, you mean…"

"Yes, Hochi. He acted out of line, and all of us apologize for him." All of the elders bowed as Naruto just looked at them. "Honestly, we were all apprehensive about you being Hokage. We thought you would be immature, and wouldn't be able to lead the village. Yet through your speech, I can tell you're somebody that truly looked up to Hiruzen; and for that, all of us pledge to support and help you along the way!"

"I see, well I promise to do the best I can, and I promise the Third will never be forgotten!"

"Thank you, Lord." All of the elders bowed towards him which Naruto returned as Kakashi opened the carriage door as Naruto got inside and sat down, almost falling asleep from how soft the seats were.

As the carriage began to depart, Naruto waved to everyone as he felt another day begin to end.

* * *

_2 Days Later_

Naruto yawned as he sat at his desk, signing another piece of paperwork handed to him by Kakashi. He had spent all of yesterday and today doing nothing but paperwork, something that wasn't exactly fun.

Sakura hadn't been around since she gave him the cake, and Sasuke was still in the hospital though the doctors had hoped to release him soon. But until then, Naruto had mountains and mountains of paperwork to do.

However, as he was writing a knock was heard on the door before the jonin Aobi came in "Hokage-sama!"

"Hm? What's up?"

"Two things lord, first is that Team Ten have just entered into our barrier and should be back in the village in an hour; we can confirm that the Carpenter and his crew are indeed with them lord."

"Awesome! I'm glad to see the mission was a success!"

"Indeed, however, we have one other thing, my lord."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Lord, we have just received a carrier pigeon from Sunagakure. They apparently wish to redo parts of the surrender agreement."

* * *


	11. Konoha Recovery Arc V:Rebellion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunagakure, the Village of the Wind Country, a village on economic collapse. When Konoha arrives with the prisoners, does everything go smoothly? Or is somewhat in the works behind the shadows?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter has the second fight scene of the story and I think it's of much higher quality than the first one, I hope anyway lol I know alot of people gave me advice on how to do a fight scene better so I hope this lived up to your expectations!
> 
> But welcome back! We are still on track for Chapter 13 starting the Festivals and everything for Naruto's public ceremony! We do have some actual relationship building in this chapter, both platonic and romantic, so I hope you enjoy it! I will state that relationships not involving Naruto and Temari will go a bit faster; unless you want alot of time spent on them, though that would delay plot important stuff.
> 
> As always, tell me what you want, what you like, what you hate, ect...And I'll see you guys later!

Metal was clashing against metal.

That was all she heard.

The screams of agony from her fellow villagers; the smell of death penetrating her nostrils. It was a feeling she had never known before; it was a feeling that made her sick to her stomach.

And what did she do? She hid. She hid from the attacker's thanks to being a sensor type, and it made her even sicker that all she could do was hide. She was useless, all she was good for was healing people, and she wasn't even doing that right now.

She wanted it all to end; she wanted everything to just end…

"Please, somebody…" She softly said those words as she quietly sobbed in her arms as she sat in the fetal position; her body was trembling from how much death she could sense. Every Time somebody was struck down, she could feel their life force vanishing; it was a feeling that made her shiver from just how horrible it was.

She continued to quietly sob to herself, wanting everything to end and for her to wake back up in her house. She had already lost her mother; she didn't want to lose anything else.

"Somebody help!"

As soon as she screamed out those words, a cold feeling of despair shot up through her spine.

The feeling of death multiplied as one by one; they all started falling by the hundreds. But it wasn't just one side.

Both sides were falling like flies.

It made her so sick that she gagged from the instant touch of the cold death that had enveloped the battlefield; it wasn't human. Could somebody kill so many with little to no effort? If someone like that existed, it made her scared; scared that she wouldn't be able to escape them.

This feeling lasted for ten minutes before everything stopped; all the death stopped.

That just made her even sicker.

Why did the death stop? It was too unnatural; it was too sudden.

But the scariest thing of all was that she could still the chakra of two individuals, both chakras were that of powerful individuals. However, they were so contrasting.

One of the chakras had years upon years of pain and hurt induced onto it like they were living in a never-ending nightmare.

The other chakra was that of a killer hungry demon, living for nothing but the satisfaction of the kill.

Despite the contrasts, they didn't appear to fight one another if anything they seemed to be working together.

All of these thoughts just made her more confused as she stood still, not wanting to make any sudden movements.

Despite that…

"So this is where you are." The sudden cold voice of a man behind her made her jump as she looked at him with fearful eyes, yet the man showed no killing intent towards her. This was the man with years of pain and hurt; this was the man living in a never-ending nightmare. He spoke coldly but had no traces of ill intent behind his words, making no movements afterward.

The man had black hair and red piercing eyes, his mouth covered by the black cloak around his body. He didn't say anything else as his eyes stayed locked with hers, the fear she had been experiencing slowly melting away as their eyes remained locked.

However, that fear returned when another man came over, the man with the chakra of a killer demon. He had a shark-like face and a giant sword on his back; he was also covered in the black cloak like the black haired man. The shark-faced man turned towards the other as he spoke: "So is this runt the reason you had us come here before going back to your old village?"

"Yes...I've heard an interesting rumor from one of the others, so someone with her abilities will be useful." The black haired man eyed her with a look of seriousness, but also a hidden look of regret. She couldn't describe it; it was a look she had never seen before.

"Ah, you mean the rumors about the Jinchuuriki? Hehehe, even if they are true; I don't see how a runt like her can help us in any way."

"She's a sensor; she will be instrumental." The girl went wide-eyed, how did this man know who she is? Or rather what she was? She tried to stay hidden the best she could, yet this unknown man knew exactly who she was? The man bent down in front of her which caused her to scoot back, yet he showed no ill will towards her. "What is your name?"

The girl didn't answer as she backed up some more, fear consuming her body from the man's presence. Still, he didn't move or show any harm towards her, as the shark-faced man laughed as he turned back around "Well I'll leave you in charge of the babysitting then, I'm going to find out if any stragglers are left."

The girl looked up at the shark-faced man and slowly shook her head, causing the black hair one to speak "Noone is left."

"Huh? How do you know?"

"Because this girl says there isn't; and as I said, she's a sensor." The girl looked back at the black haired man as he extended his hand forward, causing her to jump yet it was just a simple gesture. "As I asked before, what is your name?"

The girl didn't know what to do, should she trust this man? Even if she didn't, did she have an option? Everybody she knew was dead, and she had a feeling these two were the ones were finished the battle for both sides.

Taking a gulp, she extended her hand out before she grasped onto his hand…

And shook…

It was a shake, nothing more.

A sense of relief washed over her when she felt his touch; it was a touch she had never felt before.

It was a touch of hope, not of despair.

The touch made her gulp as she looked into the man's eyes and quietly spoke "M-My name...Is Karin...Karin Uzumaki"

* * *

The march to Sunagakure continued on as the group marched through the vast forest that made up the Fire Country, a stark contrast to the sand of the Wind Country.

Walking in the middle of the pack was Temari and Kankuro, neither one having said much since the journey had begun, yet each one had their own reasons for staying silent. For Kankuro, he had been thinking about the Councils Response to the surrender agreement. He figured they wouldn't totally back it, but he also knew they had no leverage whatsoever when it came to the more finer details.

Temari, however, had been stuck on something much different, as she had been running the words that Kurenai had uttered to her through her head.

**But Just Like Gaara, Hokage-sama is a Jinchuuriki.**

Those words had been running through her head like crazy, she didn't fully know why, but if she had to guess it was because of the life she grew up in.

Throughout her childhood, she was scared of Gaara. Whenever he tried to play with her, she always made excuses for why she couldn't and never gave him the time of day. Not that she didn't love her brother, but she knew how her father treated him.

Her father, the Kazekage, sent assassin after assassin to Gaara, and he ended up killing every single one. Yet no matter how many he killed, he simply kept the same neutral look on his face. Gaara never cared to kill the people after him, which scared Temari quite a bit.

So when Gaara finally killed someone close to him, their uncle, when she saw him become cold and distant; she ironically felt more comfortable around him then because he was showing actual human emotion.

But even still the demon sealed inside of Gaara was a reason for this, as she remembered the day it escaped and ravaged the village. She still had the occasional nightmare about it, and the sight made her think that no Jinchuuriki could ever like a normal human being.

Yet all of a sudden she learns the brat who had defeated Gaara and become Hokage was also a Jinchuuriki! It didn't make sense to her; how could the village trust their Jinchuuriki as their Kage? After all, should the demon escape then that would mean the villagers would have to risk the Kage's life to seal it right?

She knew villages had Jinchuuriki as a Kage before, but it was such a rare thing to hear about. In fact, the Fourth Mizukage was a Jinchuuriki, and she heard he ruled with a bloody fist, which cemented her perception of Jinchuuriki's even more.

Yet the brat showed nothing of the sort, during the exams he was excitable and carefree. Sure he was serious in his fights, but unlike Gaara, he never fought to kill, he never wanted to kill anybody. Hell, he'd saved the Green Clad Ninja by risking his life against Gaara.

But it wasn't just to his fellow villagers; he showed the same resolve during his fight with Gaara. Sure he mostly fought the demon inside of Gaara, but he didn't kill him. In fact, he made sure to spare Gaara's life, and even tried to have him tended to by Konoha doctors.

Then to top it all off, he did everything he could to make the agreement against Suna be relatively soft; risking his image in future negotiations with other villages. He kept repeating he wanted peace and to be allies, war seemed like the last thing on her mind.

He was different in every way than her perception of other Jinchuuriki's.

It made her angry; why was he different? Why does he not hold any grudges? Why does he put others first? Why? Why? Why?

But the biggest issue to Temari?

The fact that all she had thought about since she heard the news was the brat.

Everything came back full circle to him.

That made her angrier.

Temari rubbed her temple as she let out a sigh, causing Kankuro to look over "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah...That damn brat has all my thoughts messed up; I can't think straight. It's annoying as hell."

"Hm...Is it about the surrender agreement?"

"It's about everything dammit." Temari closed her eyes as she walked forward a bit away from Kankuro, making him raise an eyebrow.

"Huh...Never seen her act that way before."

* * *

_Neji and Kiba_

Silence.

That might be the best word to use for the pair.

Ever since they had departed, it was nothing but silence.

It didn't help neither one cared much for the other.

For Neji, he saw Kiba as someone inferior to him. Someone who never takes anything seriously and thinks everything in life will be handed to him. It made him angry, as since he was a branch member he would have to work for everything in his clan. It was one of the reasons it made him resentful to Hinata.

For Kiba, he saw Neji as a self-entitled jerk. Someone who had a mentality that everyone was beneath him and nobody could ever surpass him: someone who hated his cousin for no reason at all, someone who viewed himself as a king.

It pissed Kiba off.

As the pair continued to walk in silence, the closure between them became smaller and smaller until…

"Agh! You piss me off!" Kiba said this out of the blue to Neji, who merely looked over at him.

"What do you mean mutt?" Kiba gritted his teeth at the remark as he pointed at Neji.

"That right there! The fact you think you can talk down to me like I'm a nobody! Nothing gives you the right to do so!"

"And nothing gives you the right to think you can stand on equal footing with me, so you better be quiet."

Kiba clenched his hand as Akamaru gave a low whimper from Kiba's sweatshirt as he pointed at Neji "The only reason you have any room to stand is because you're lucky."

"What do you-"

"You're lucky that you were born into such a favorable position! You never had done anything but train and be fed talk about how great you were! Unlike you, I had to work for everything alongside Akamaru!"

"Tch, if you truly think I didn't work for anything; then you are mistaken. I have to train as hard as I can every day because I'm apart of the branch family, unlike a certain other Hyuga who can't compare."

"Don't act like she doesn't try dammit! Every day she trains and trains so not only can she stand on equal footing with you, but also so she can impress Naruto! She has a goal unlike you!"

"Impressing Naruto is so easy that it's a rather pathetic goal, wouldn't you think?"

"If it's so pathetic, why did he beat you during the exams?" Neji gritted his teeth as he heard the words from Kiba.

"That was a fluke; I merely let my guard down is all."

"Hey, I fought against Naruto before you! Don't forget that! When I fought against him, it frustrated me that it felt like he was holding back yet I still couldn't defeat him! No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't impress-" Kiba cut himself off as he looked to the ground and gave a sigh, making Neji look over.

"Impress? Being a ninja isn't about impressing people, it's about living on and upholding-"

"I know what it's about; you don't have to be on your high horse about it." Kiba gave a snarky reply back as Neji narrowed his gaze before facing forward once again.

"If the future of this village rides on people like you, this is a rather bleak one."

"Tch, same to you buddy!" The two of them went silent afterward, their war of words put on hold for the time being.

* * *

_Lee and Hinata_

Hinata could easily hear the sound of marching as she quietly walked on, yet the one she was teamed up with made sure to make each footstep sound like that of a true soldier. She didn't mind it, to be honest, it made the rather dull walk enjoyable to some degree.

Still, though, her mind was all over the place. After having her confidence shattered, she had been mostly quiet and just listened to orders. Yet her downward expression eventually caught the attention of Lee "Hinata! Is everything alright!?"

"H-Huh? O-Oh yes...Sorry for making you worry." Hinata looked down at the ground after she spoke, making Lee eye her suspiciously.

"If anything is troubling you, do not be afraid to ask for my assistance! I can help light your flames of youth!"

"...I-It's just...I have a lot of things running through my mind...That's all…" Hinata sighed as she kept marching on, causing Lee to speak once again.

"If I may ask, would one of those things be about Naruto?"

"H-Huh? N-Naruto…?" Hinata's face went red as she looked at Lee questioningly.

"Yes! Naruto is truly a great rival for me to have! Sadly it has been a while since I last saw him, but I heard he is the main reason the village was saved during the attack! He has earned even more of my respect, even if it just means I have to work even harder from now on!"

"Y-Yeah I heard that as well...H-He really is amazing…" Hinata looked back down at the ground with a red face as Lee just nodded.

"He really is! I never knew why so many people hated Naruto growing up, not that I was one of them of course. Personally, I didn't hear the full story about Naruto until after I had already declared him as my rival; yet it still made me sick to my stomach to hear of such things! I hope that the others start seeing him in a different light now."

"Y-Yeah, I agree…" That seemed to be everything that would be said between the two of them.

Until…

"Hey, you." Temari walked up to them from the middle of the prisoners as she pointed at Lee and spoke: "You're the one the brat saved in your fight against Gaara, right?"

"Yes! My name is Rock Lee! As much as I hate to admit it, Naruto did rescue me in my fight! It's a disgrace to be rescued by my rival, but it's something that just drives me to-"

"Tell me about him."

"Huh?"

"The brat, tell me what he's like." Temari glared at Lee, making him a bit nervous as he looked down.

"I don't know much about Naruto's past, but I can certainly tell you the Naruto I know today." Lee took a deep breath as he began speaking. "Naruto is someone that you can trust and rely on; he's not someone that is ever going to let you down. If you need something, he will do everything in his power to get you what you need. He looks out for everyone and tries his best to make sure that everybody lives the best life they can. He also wants to become Hokage, and while I doubt it will happen anytime soon; I know that the day will eventually come and he will be one of the greatest Hokage's we've ever had!"

Temari ignored the irony in his statement as she closed her eyes and thought, why was he so different than every other Jinchuuriki? What made him so special? Why did he end up like he did and Gaara end up the killing machine that he was?

It pissed her off even more.

She opened her eyes as she let out a grunt and began to fall back "All I wanted to know."

She went back to her original position as Lee and Hinata watched her with curious eyes "I wonder what that was about?"

Hinata meekly shook her head as she replied: "I-I don't know...B-But it sounds like she's interested in Naruto…"

* * *

_Shino and Tenten_

Tenten enjoyed many things in life, from things such as good food to training. But one of the best things in her life was her collection of weapons, from her most beloved kunai to some amazing weapons she had found on missions.

However if there was one thing she didn't enjoy, it was bugs.

She...Could do without bugs.

So walking beside Shino made her a bit...Wary...She didn't hate him of course, he was a valuable teammate, and he fought to protect Konoha during the invasion, so he was someone she could easily trust.

But….She could do without the bugs.

She didn't want to say anything, she knew his entire clan lived off of the bugs in their body, and she would never judge that. The bugs just made her uneasy.

Still, other factors made her a bit wary. Such as the fact he was very quiet and spoke in a very interesting manner; he was also mysterious as she didn't know much about him. Maybe she should try to talk to him? Taking a look over at him, Tenten attempted to find something to talk about, yet nothing came to mind.

However, Shino noticed Tenten occasionally glancing over at him, so he took the initiative "Is everything alright Tenten?"

"A-Ah yeah, just trying to…"

"...Trying to find a way to start a conversation?"

"Y-Yeah."

"I see...Well, you seem a bit on edge. Why? Because you seem to be looking over me in an almost disturbed manner, may I inquire why?"

"W-Well, don't think of me as being inconsiderate or anything; but I'm just a bit...Wary of bugs is all."

"I see, well it's natural I suppose...However…" Shino held his hand out as one of his bugs walked onto it, causing Tenten to tense up some more "They aren't anything to fear...They are very helpful actually…"

Tenten gulped as she saw the bug crawl all over Shino's hand as he moved his hand over to her causing her to speak out "I-It's fine! I-I understand what you mean!"

"..." Shino didn't say anything else as the bug crawled back into his sleeve as he dropped his hand and looked back forward.

Tenten breathed a sigh of relief; however, she immediately noticed how Shino seemed a bit more distant, making her worry she offended him "I-I'm sorry I didn't-"

"It's fine…" That was all Shino said as Tenten looked down with a guilty look.

" _Ah great, now he's mad at me. Good job Tenten."_

* * *

As nighttime approached, Guy looked out over the prisoners and saw that many of them were falling behind a bit and seemed to be slowing down in general. Realizing that trying to continue on would bring more harm than anything else, Guy raised his hand signaling for everyone to stop.

Everyone slowed down and came to a halt as the prisoners looked around in confusion as Guy looked over to the other side "Lee! Hand out food and water equally to everyone! Hinata, please begin preparing a campground!"

"Yes! Understood Guy-sensei!"

"I-I understand!" Lee and Hinata quickly got to work as Lee quickly began handing out food and water to the prisoners as Hinata began setting up the camp, with Tenten joining Hinata and Shino joining Lee soon afterward.

Once the roles were assigned, Guy looked over to Kurenai "Kurenai, we need to map out some details for the route."

"Understood." Kurenai walked with Guy over to a secluded part of the forest, away from everyone else; leaving just Neji, Kiba, Temari and Kankuro together.

Not wanting to engage with anyone, Neji went off by himself as he thought about a few things, the main one being the mission and the thinking of the Hokage. Neji was never one to disobey an order, even if he thought the order to be stupid or suicidal. He was a proud member of the Hyuuga clan, and he wouldn't ruin that by failing a simple escort mission; even if he disagreed with the amount of trust the Hokage was showing in Sunagakure.

That was the other thing on his mind, the Hokage. None of the obvious candidates he could think of really made him think they were someone that would trust Suna right after the devastating attack, other than the legendary Tsunade since she wasn't involved, but even then he wouldn't think she would make such a rash and ignorant judgment.

So it made him wonder if the new Hokage was maybe someone with ties to Suna, but that left a very shallow pool of candidates. Other thoughts on who it could be made him also wonder if it was maybe someone other than a jonin, someone with less experience. It was a vast pool if he included Chunin and Genin, though the chance of it being a genin was almost zero.

All in all, it made Neji sigh as he rubbed his head. He had enough things to worry about; adding questions and worries would just slow him down mentally.

Still…

He wondered if the new Hokage would tell him the information that the Third promised to tell him concerning something about his father after the Chunin Exams?

He didn't know precisely what that information was, but it made him a bit uneasy. When he had asked his father and uncle about it, they were both very hesitant and seemed a bit unwilling to answer him. It ate away at him and made him wonder just what his family and the village had been hiding from him.

The more he thought, the more it made him mad and confused. However, before he could think about the matter anymore; he was interrupted "Neji Hyuga right?"

Neji turned around and saw Kankuro of all people standing behind him, making Neji raise an eyebrow "What is it? If you have anything to complain about, then I'm not against ending you right now."

Neji took a fighting stance, yet Kankuro just raised a hand "It's nothing like that, I just have a question."

"A question?" Kankuro nodded as he walked over casually, showing no hostile movements towards Neji.

"It's about the one you fought in the Chunin Exams, the one named Naruto Uzumaki."

"Hm? What exactly do you need to know?"

"Just how much did he hold back against you?" Neji narrowed his eyes as he gripped his hands, having to subdue the anger that tried to come over him as he heard those words.

"Holding back? That's nonsense; if he held back, then I would have destroyed him. The only reason I lost was because-"

"If he didn't hold back, then you would have lost in just moments. Let's not cover the truth up." Neji gritted his teeth as Kankuro gave a small laugh as he continued "So tell me, how much did he hold back?"

"...During our fight, something felt off; but I couldn't place what it exactly was. I kept getting rid of his chakra, yet he seemed to refill it with a more evil and sinister chakra feeling. It was unnatural, to say the least."

"I see, so he used the Kyuubi, did he? Interesting."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Oh right...I guess the everyday villagers don't know, at least according to that red-eyed woman. Well, it doesn't matter, I'm just doing some scouting is all. But the fact he can control its power is a bit troublesome."

"Just what exactly are you talking about? If you're trying to get information on our village, I will make sure you don't live another day." Neji again got in a fighting position; however, he was a bit confused " _Why he is scouting that idiot anyway? Does he really think that Naruto of all people is capable of being a threat?"_

Kankuro just shrugged however as he turned back around "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer right? Don't forget we fought just a little while back; I'm just doing my part for my village. Besides, this entire mission is to help establish an alliance between our villages right? If everything goes well, then everything you told me won't matter anyway right?"

Kankuro began to walk away, but Neji called back out to him "Then tell me something. You met with the Hokage did you not? Who exactly is he?"

Kankuro was silent for a moment as he sighed and turned around "Why does it matter? You'll know in a couple of weeks won't you?"

"I'm just trying to find out the idiot who sent us on this mission, to begin with! Trusting you so shortly after the attack is a move of an amateur if you ask me, so I'm simply curious who it is."

Kankuro just kept a black stare on Neji before he gave a small chuckle "Wouldn't you like to know?"

That was all he said before he turned back around and left, leaving Neji alone as he gripped his hands "Damn him!"

* * *

_3 Days Later- River Country Capital_

After three days of travel, the group finally arrived in the capital of the Land of Rivers; as the guards welcomed them in having been notified ahead of time of their arrival.

The capital was smaller than a hidden village but more prominent than your average town. It had many street vendors, bars and restaurants, inns, casinos, everything you would expect. The grand masterpiece of the place though was the giant structure in the middle, called the 'Waterfall Tower' and was the home of the River Daimyo.

As Guy and Kurenai were arranging everything, they had been notified that the River Daimyo had wished to meet with them. Since arrangements weren't done, Kurenai agreed to meet with him while Guy continued on.

So after being escorted by the guards, Kurenai sat in the main room of Waterfall Tower, at the base of a long table with several chairs around it. After several moments of waiting, the large doors on the opposite side of the room opened as the River Daimyo walked in.

He was a large man with a beard down to his stomach, earrings on both ears and hair that went down to his legs. He had high-quality robes on, and his hat had the symbol of the Land of Rivers imprinted onto it. The servant with him walked over to the table and pulled the grand chair out as the Daimyo sat down and was pushed back in.

Once she was sure the Daimyo was in a comfortable position, Kurenai did a bow towards him as she spoke "River Daimyo-sama, I thank you for calling me here today. May I ask what this meeting is about?"

The Daimyo coughed into his hand as he began to speak "Yes...I need to ask you some important questions regarding your new Hokage, along with information my spies discovered yesterday."

"What would that be?"

"First, the report that was sent to me about your upcoming arrival was signed by Naruto Uzumaki. This would imply that this Uzumaki is the Fifth Hokage, correct?"

"...Yes, that's correct."

"I see...I am a bit surprised if I must be honest, just for the fact that you rarely find Uzumaki's in this day and age, especially since the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed. Though considering how close your village was with the Uzumaki's, I guess it makes a degree of sense. So, how old is the Fifth?"

"Thirteen." There was silence for a moment as the Daimyo looked up from his papers with a confused look.

"Thirteen…?"

"Thirteen Years. That's how old he is." There was more silence as the servants looked at each other in confusion as the Daimyo had a look of disbelief on his face.

"Thirteen years old? You named someone that young as your Hokage? What was his rank before? Jonin?"

"Genin." Again a look of disbelief as the Daimyo looked around with a look of disbelief but almost like he was laughing.

"Are you serious? You named a thirteen-year-old genin as your Hokage? Has Shoka lost his damn mind?" The River Daimyo referred to the Fire Daimyo by name as he laughed as he looked at his servants, beckoning for them to laugh as well.

Kurenai however just watched with a neutral expression, while it was true that she disagreed with the decision; she still had her honor as a Shinobi. Part of her honor was making sure her Kage was respected among others. So, after taking a breath, she added to what she had said: "Also River Daimyo-sama."

"What is it?" The River Daimyo had trouble speaking from his laughing as Kurenai looked him dead in the eye.

"Naruto-sama is also the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze-sama." As soon as the words left her mouth, everybody in the room quieted down as the River Daimyo's expression went from amusement to disbelief, but unlike last time, this was a disbelief filled with fear.

"W-What did you say…?" Not wanting to believe what he just heard, he asked Kurenai to repeat herself.

"I said that Naruto Uzumaki-sama is the son of the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze-sama and his wife, Lady Kushina." The words made everybody in the room freeze as the River Daimyo swallowed his spit as he fell down in his chair a bit.

"I-I see...I-I wasn't aware that Namikaze had a son."

"Not many people are; though I'm sure it's because the Legendary Sannin Jiraiya-sama raised him in secret." That made everyone in the room go even paler as the River Daimyo looked like he had seen a ghost.

Why would they not be scared? Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, was feared by almost everyone. He was a shinobi without equal, someone who defied all human laws of physics. He made Konoha one of the scariest enemies to make during his reign as Hokage, and even during times of war enemy ninjas were required to escape if he entered onto the battlefield.

So to hear that his son, who had been raised and trained by the legendary Jiraiya, was now the Fifth Hokage of Konoha? It made everyone in the room have nightmares about the nights they spent agonizing over what they would have to do if Konoha invaded them.

To them, it was legitimately like having PTSD by hearing his name.

He induced that much fear.

The River Daimyo cleared his throat again as he tried to speak as his eyes had a look of despair implanted into them, the servants were no better as they looked at each like they were about to die. Kurenai simply kept her neutral expression as she spoke: "Any more questions about Naruto-sama?"

"N-No! None! T-That's all I need to know!" The Daimyo was shaking as he quickly motioned for a drink and as soon as the servant brought the wine bottle over, he grabbed it out of their hands and started downing the entire thing. After consuming over half the bottle, he laid it onto the table as he was still breathing heavy.

"Well then, you said you had something else to discuss?"

"W-What? O-Oh…" The River Daimyo could barely nod as he shakily looked over to his advisor. "W-What exactly was it?"

The Advisor gulped as he pulled out a piece of paper "I-It's t-the scout's lord...A-About the S-Shinobi…"

"A-Ah right…" The Daimyo again took a long chug of his wine as he looked around in fear "W-Well, it's about the Wave Country. U-Um...O-Our scouts discovered that you had Shinobi arrive there and escort a carpenter's crew. A-At Least that's-what they saw, h-however apparently the head carpenter w-was recently named t-the Wave's leader...U-Um, a-any reason for this?"

The Daimyo was shaking as he spoke, though Kurenai shrugged "I'm afraid Naruto-sama has not informed me of his plans for the Wave Country. However, I can make a meeting between you and-"

"No!" The Daimyo yelled out as his eyes almost bulged out of his head "M-Minato Nami- I-I mean Naruto Uzumaki-sama can do whatever he wants! J-Just don't have him come near here!"

The advisors tried to calm the Daimyo down as Kurenai gave a small smile "Very well, anything else?"

"N-No! F-Feel free to have whatever you want and need! J-Just tell Minato that we aided you the best we could!" Despite the fact he called Naruto by his dad's name, nobody corrected him as Kurenai nodded.

"Very well. Thank you again for having me Daimyo-sama." Kurenai pushed herself up and bowed as she began to leave the room; all of the servants eyeing her with fearful looks.

As soon as she had left, the Daimyo was still shaking in his chair as he spoke to himself "M-Minato Namikaze's son...He's already at Namikaze's level at only thirteen years old? H-He's a monster...I-If we ever make him our enemy; we're all dead!"

* * *

_3 Days Later- Sunagakure_

Though questioned by Guy, Kurenai simply said that the Daimyo had a few questions about Naruto and offered more supplies than they thought they would need. She left out the parts about the Daimyo breaking down at the mention of Minato's name, but only because she wanted to include it when she talked to Naruto again.

After receiving the supplies and resting, the group headed out and eventually reached Sunagakure six days after leaving Konoha.

As soon as they walked through the village gates, many villagers broke down crying as they were finally home, while others simply had looks of relief on their faces. As they walked through, many civilians began to run out and find their family members and loved ones, hugging them as tight as they could.

The scene was bittersweet to some, people like Tenten and Neji had mixed feelings about coming to Suna and releasing the prisoners, while others like Kiba and Lee had huge smiles on their faces as they watched everything.

As Guy and Kurenai watched the scenes unfold, they eventually noticed an older man holding the Kazekage hat and two other shinobi walking behind him approach them. They both straightened up as the oldest man stopped in front of them and bowed. "Good morning Konoha Shinobi. My name is Yuki, and I am the Head Councilman for the Sunagakure council."

They both returned the bow as Guy took the lead in talking with him "Nice to meet ya! My name is Guy, and this is Kurenai! Both Konoha Jonin who have flames of passion coursing through our bodies! We're both happy to say that the prisoners were transported without incident."

"Oh I'm glad to hear, the prisoner transport was one of the things we really wished to have. So you and your village have our deepest thanks."

"Of course! However, in return, you are to release all of our own prisoners that you have taken over the years as well."

"Of course. First I invite you all to a feast, and then we can work on the arrangements." Yuki turned around and began to walk by the other shinobi when…

_Splat_

The splattering of blood could be heard as both of the shinobi took out kunai and pierced through Yuki's chest, shocking not only Guy and Kurenai but Temari and Kankuro as well who had walked up to them.

Yuki let out a small cry as he fell to the ground.

Dead.

Guy and Kurenai had no idea of what to make of the scene, as Temari and Kankuro ran over towards them "W-What the hell!?"

Temari yelled out towards the two shinobi, yet neither said anything as they raised their weapons towards the group. The other Konoha pairs tried to join them, yet all of the pairs were suddenly surrounded by different shinobi.

One of the Shinobi in front of them raised his face as he spoke "A peace treaty is not the way that Suna gets back our reputation! The old man here was adamant about a peace treaty though, so he had to go."

"What!? You're committing treason!"

"On the contrary, now that we have no Kazekage or Head Councilman, that means the Council is now in charge! Meaning that our first vote is to continue the war with Konoha!" Guy and Kurenai both took out weapons and raised them, ready to strike. "Temari. Kankuro. Are you going to disobey orders? Kill all of the Konoha Shinobi, then bring the prisoners out and slaughter them as well."

Temari and Kankuro gritted their teeth as they slowly went to grab their weapons. They didn't want to do this, but what other choice did they have?

Turns out, a rather big choice.

Before they could even grab their weapons, the two shinobi in front of them were suddenly pulled up into the air by their necks as sand had wrapped around them and strangled them. Everybody watched in stunned silence as the sand broke their necks as the two shinobi fell to the ground dead.

Shocked by what they saw, they were even more surprised when the Head Councilman's body suddenly turned into sand and melted into the ground, making everyone wonder what they had just seen. However, that answer was immediately answered when Kankuro looked in front of them "G-Gaara!?"

Temari looked up as well and was shocked to see Gaara standing there with his hand stretched out, and right beside him was the Head Councilman; perfectly healthy. The other Council Members who had surrounded the group went wide-eyed, what was going on?

The head councilman simply laughed as he looked at Gaara "So, it seems you were telling the truth after all."

"Of course." Gaara replied back as he walked over, Temari and Kankuro looked at him with wide eyes "Are you two alright?"

"W-What?" Kankuro spoke in a bewildered tone as even Temari was shocked by how Gaara was acting.

"I asked if you two are alright."

"Y-Yeah...W-What about you?"

"I'm fine." Gaara gave a short answer as he looked over to Guy and Kurenai, making them both nervous as they remembered the Chunin Exams "You two are the Jonin leader guiding the prisoners, correct?"

"Y-Yeah." Guy nervously responded, still extremely tense around Gaara.

"Alright, then I'll let you know. Half of the Council is currently executing their plan for a coup, which involved killing the Head Councilman along with all of you so they can continue the war against Konoha. If you kill all of the ones surrounding your team, I'll protect the Head Councilman and take care of the others."

"A-Alright." Gaara nodded as he looked back at Kankuro and Temari.

"Kankuro, Temari; make sure all the prisoners and civilians are safely out of danger." Gaara turned back towards the head councilman but before he could speak Temari spoke.

"G-Gaara! W-Why...Why are you acting…?"

"...Not like a monster?" Temari went wide-eyed as Gaara said it so casually "Ever since I lost, I've come to learn a few things. Namely...There's always something in this world worth fighting for and caring for."

"W-What is it?"

"...The people of this village. Naruto Uzumaki...He cared for his village, and he showed through his love of his village that he was more powerful than the hate father instilled in me. I want to see what it's like...To fight for love and not hate."

"G-Gaara…" Temari couldn't believe what she was hearing; Naruto made Gaara like this from a fight and some words? Was this his true power? Was this why he was named Hokage?

Before she could answer those questions herself, she heard the sound of metal clashing as she shook her head and looked over at a still bewildered Kankuro.

"Let's go! We have to protect the others!"

Kankuro looked at her and quickly shook his head "R-Right!"

The two of them set off as battles had begun everywhere; they had a job to protect the civilians from the traitors.

Gaara walked over to the head councilman as he spoke: "We'll hide in the Kazekage tower, Baki should already be there."

"Very well. I must say I am surprised, I thought you were putting on a show at first, but you seemed like you have changed."

"I don't have time for shows; I have too much to make up for." Yuki laughed as the two of them headed into the tower, as the sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard.

* * *

Shurikens flew everywhere as the battle cries of the rebelling councilmen and their guards were heard as they charged into battle, facing off against the Konoha squads and opposing councilmen.

Blood flew with each strike as they swung and met, metal clashed against metal as the sounds of a battle quickly spread throughout the village.

Neji jumped back as a pair of shurikens came his way, his byakugan in full effect as he continued to dodge, keeping the enemies entirely in view as he studied their chakra and how many weapons they had left. He couldn't take any risks, the memory of his failed match against Naruto entering into his mind.

Once he was sure the two attacking him were out of shurikens, he struck. Planting his foot, he propelled himself forward as he struck using his palms, trying to hit his opponents directly. However, they blocked each of his attacks; knowing full well just how powerful the Hyuuga clans byakugan was.

Taking a step back, he observed his opponents as one of them jumped back and reached to his backside to the large weapon; only for him to pull it off of himself to reveal it to be a puppet as he attached chakra strings to it.

The one in front placed his hands together and quickly formed a jutsu as he aimed at Neji "Suna Taihou!"

Immediately an incredibly fast stream of sand fired from the attacks mouth, causing Neji to jump and out of the way. However, this lead to the puppeteer to use his puppet to begin shooting poison needles at Neji, causing him to pull out his kunai and block each of them.

During this, the non-puppeteer aimed up at Neji and performed another jutsu towards him "Great Arm Of Sand!"

Suddenly, a large hand stretched out from the sand and flung towards Neji; causing him to quickly form his hands together; but thanks to the speed of the hand and the poison needles, he didn't have time to defend himself.

"Passing Fang!" Suddenly, two figures zoomed across in front of Neji; reflecting back both the poison and sand arm thanks to their speed as they quickly landed onto the ground along with Neji.

Once Neji got a look at them, he noticed two Kiba's standing in front of him. The one on the right looked at him and smirked: "Never thought I'd be helping a Hyuuga not named Hinata."

Neji glared as he looked back at the opponents "Enough with your jokes, our enemies are in front of us."

The three of them looked at the two figures in front of them who were reforming a strategy as they jumped back some and began preparing another attack.

However, Neji immediately sensed another attack from the right as he quickly pushed Kiba and Akamaru "Dodge!"

Neji pushed them out of the way from several long knives thrown at them as they all looked at three more figures who had appeared, though it looked like they were guards of the rebellion rather than councilmen.

Neji got in his stance as he ordered Kiba "You two take care of the puppeteer and the shinobi, I'll fight the swordsman."

"Heh, always wanting a challenge huh? Well don't worry, we'll be there to help you once we're done." Not wasting any time afterward, Kiba and Akamaru jumped forward as the puppeteer shot more poison as another sand arm came towards them. However, thanks to Kiba's and Akamaru's speed, they were able to dodge as they lunged forward, causing the two councilmen to block the attacks.

The two councilmen jumped back as they both prepared new attacks, with the puppeteer raising the weapons his puppet had before he flung it forward, causing Akamaru to block it; however in doing so, the puppet had two long sharp blades come out of the back as it tried to wrap them around Akamaru and entrap in the sharp metal.

Yet before the blades could entrap him, Akamaru pulled back one of his blocks, causing him to get cut before he flung his fist forward and punched the puppet in the face, sending it back as the puppeteer tried to correct it.

Kiba, on the other hand, was using his speed to frustrate and avoid all of the attacks by the other councilmen, who was using jutsu to attack. Kiba was faster than all of the sand coming towards him, yet he wasn't able to attack at all as he had to use all of his energy to avoid everything coming towards him.

Things only got worse as suddenly the councilmen jumped back and formed a sand clone, giving Kiba more things to avoid. However, with two of them; he had less leeway to avoid before finally he was hit in the side by a large sand ball that sent him flying across the battlefield as he rolled over in the sand and stopped.

Quickly pushing himself up, Kiba had to avoid a barrage of attacks thrown at him as he jumped and dodged each one, as he physically felt himself getting weaker and weaker from the hit and the constant movement to avoid each and every one of the attacks thrown his way.

Finally, he felt himself about to give in when…

"Take this!"

Suddenly, a figure at lightning fast speed kicked through both the clone and real shinobi as the clone dispersed and the attacked traveled several yards as their body rolled through the sand with almost no resistance from it. Finally stopping after traveling almost a full fifty yards from where he originally was.

When Kiba looked up at, he saw a black hair man in a green outfit "Guy-sensei!"

Guy had appeared and saved Kiba, and when Kiba called out; Guy looked over and gave a thumbs up "Good job on holding out until I arrived!"

Kiba nodded as he brought himself up as he was about to go help out Akamaru, yet suddenly he heard the sound of a puppet breaking, and when he looked, he saw Kurenai standing by as she busted the head off of the puppet and flung the puppeteer backward as well.

Kurenai looked over at Kiba and Guy as she yelled out "Some of the Suna forces are pulling out! Apparently, they're conflicted on who to aid! All we have to do is keep fighting until their morale is too low to continue to aid the rebels!"

Guy and Kiba both nodded as both the puppeteer and Shinobi slowly got up, both of them adjusting themselves for the next round.

* * *

Gaara and the Head Councilman walked through the halls of the Kazekage tower, the sound of the battle could be heard outside as the tower shook from the occasional hit. The two of them continued through the tower with almost no worry shown on their faces as the Head Councilman spoke "Daimyo-sama needs to be informed as soon as we reach the council room, he needs to be aware of this immediately. Afterward, he needs to contact the Hokage and inform him of the details as well, though we will have to go through the Fire Daimyo since we can't contact him via the screen."

Gaara just nodded as the two of them turned a corner and entered into the council room where the other councilmen were at.

Once they saw the Head Councilman, they all got up as they rushed towards him "Y-Yuki-sama! What's going on outside?"

The Head Councilman cleared his throat as he began speaking "The Black Scorpions have finally made their move. They attempted to assassinate me and are currently in the process of trying to kill the Konoha delegates. They're trying to seize back power, and my guess is that once they kill off the Konoha shinobi, then everyone else is next."

The council members all tensed up as they nodded, knowing full well that the Black Scorpions were usually made up of former jonin. They all gulped as the one from before replied "We need to evacuate you to a safe location and contact the Daimyo! The capital can send reinforcements!"

"I'm not going anywhere; It's my job to oversee the council; which in turn has a responsibility of protecting this village! However, we do need to contact the Daimyo, along with the Fire Daimyo so he can inform Konoha of what has transpired before they get any wrong ideas."

"I understand but-"

"No buts! We are in the middle of a rebellion; I must stay here for now!"

"I-I understand…" The councilman let out a defeated sigh as he turned his attention to Gaara, causing him to tense as he spoke: "W-Why is the Jinchuuriki…"

"He's with me. He's the one who found out about the plans for the rebellion and immediately informed me about them; I only chose not to act due to him possibly lying. However, I believe we can trust him. It was thanks to him after all that my life was spared."

"He saved you?" The councilmen looked at Gaara who didn't show any emotion, though he did give a small nod towards the councilmen "I-I see, w-well thank you for that Jin- I-I mean Gaara."

"It's fine…" Gaara spoke as he walked over towards the table "Call me whatever you want, I deserve all of it, to be honest. However, for now, lets put that aside and work on ending this before any citizens get hurt."

"R-Right! We'll go ahead and begin setting up the connection to the Daimyo!"

"Before that." The Head Councilman spoke back up as he looked around "Where's Baki? He was supposed to be guarding this room."

"I'm right here." The head councilman turned around as Baki entered into the room carrying something in his arms "Sorry about that, I had to run and grab this."

Baki held up a hat as the head councilman raised an eyebrow "The Kazekage hat? Why did you grab that?"

"Isn't it obvious? Most of our forces aren't fighting because they don't know which side to join, and the few who are fighting are joining the rebellion since they don't have Konoha assisting them! I think the only thing that's stopping the entire village from fighting is the fact that some of our guards have joined the Konoha shinobi! We need to quickly appoint the Fifth Kazekage and order the troops to put down the rebellion."

"But Baki!" The councilman from before stepped up as he spoke: "Who are we to appoint as the Kazekage so suddenly?"

"Isn't it obvious? The Head Councilman is the only choice!" Despite it being the obvious answer and voiced clearly by Baki, the Head Councilman shook his head.

"No; I can't be the Fifth Kazekage."

"W-What?"

"When Daimyo-sama came into power a few days ago, he told me that he wanted me to find a suitable young candidate for Kazekage so he would only have to appoint one during his entire reign. I would be the total opposite of that, and many might see me using this rebellion to bypass the Daimyo's wishes."

"Then who? I certainly don't want the position; it's not something I've ever desired to have."

"That is a shame to hear, I think you would make a fine Kazekage; and up until a few days ago, you were the one I was going to recommend. However, when we learned the news four days ago of Konoha's decision, it made me realize that you have to do things that aren't popular, at least at first. Today's events have only reinforced that."

"What do you mean?"

The head councilman smiled as he looked over at Gaara, who still had no emotion on his face "I mean that there are no rules on who can be Kazekage; as long as they are from Suna, even if they are a Jinchuuriki!"

* * *

"So the dumbass wants to play huh?" The swordsman yelled out as he swung down at Neji, forcing him to retreat backward as he kept dodging all of the attacks from the three swordsmen; their extreme speed forcing him to stay on the defensive.

Or so they thought.

In reality, Neji was trying to get them all together to quickly attack all of them at once, forcing them to be by themselves which would allow him to strike them at close range. However, since they were all guards of councilmen; they were obvious Jonin level, and Neji was struggling to keep up with them and execute his plan.

However, by repetitive motion, Neji was eventually able to get all of them on different sides, and as soon as they all struck at once, he began his plan.

Quickly taking a stance, Neji began to go around in a circle. What looked like nothing at first, quickly became a blinding light as vast amounts of chakra began to form around his body; by the time the guardsmen realized what was going on, it was too late as they struck the chakra wall, sending them backwards as they skidded across the sand.

Once he was sure they were all hit, Neji rushed forward towards the closet one as he took a stance "Two palms!"

Neji called out as he struck forward, however as soon as he hit the man; his hand absorbed into him revealing a sand clone. Realizing his mistake, Neji tried to jump backward only for the man to attack from his one blind spot and across the side of his head, leaving a large gap. If it weren't for him sidestepping the best he could, then he would have had his head cut clean off.

Neji skidded across the sand as he felt his warm blood drip down his head and onto his neck, the feeling making him sick to his stomach from again carelessly making a decision in the heat of battle; something that he knew had cost him in his fight against Naruto.

Wiping the blood off the best he could, Neji watched all three of the men, now knowing what he intended to do, took different stances as they rushed at all; causing him to take his own stance as he tried to figure out the best course of action.

When one of the men came down with his sword, Neji quickly ducked it as he pushed his fist forward "Two palms!"

Hitting one of the man's points, Neji got a quick shot in as he slid to the opposite side of the men. They were too fast for him to hit all at once, so he would have to rely on quick hits and escape tactics to be able to beat them.

The men looked back as one of them took out several shurikens and threw them at Neji, forcing him to retreat backward as the other two swordsmen used this to quickly run behind him as they held their swords out to strike.

Neji countered by sticking one of his feet into the ground, causing some pain from the sudden stoppage as he quickly turned and threw his own shurikens causing the men to block, allowing Neji time to once again retreat to a safe location as the three guardsmen eyed him.

The man that Neji hit earlier was grimacing as he rubbed his shoulder, showing the effects of Neji's attack, yet Neji was still worse for wear thanks to the cut that was on his face. As he felt more blood drip down, the two men he hadn't hit rushed forward once again with their sword as they suddenly took out the small swords from earlier and threw them, with much more precision than before.

This caused Neji to jump up into the air, causing one of the guards to smirk as he followed and slashed at the defenseless Neji, cutting him in the side. Again the only thing that stopped Neji from being cut in half was his quick thinking as he quickly grabbed the sword and stopped it's momentum, slicing his hand open as well.

As the two fell back towards the ground, Neji went wide-eyed as the man in front of him grabbed him and held him still as the other one got underneath and prepared to strike; making Neji go wide-eyed as he fell closer to his fate.

Yet Fate had different plans.

"Leaf Gale!" Suddenly out of nowhere, Lee appeared behind the man grabbing onto Neji and kicked down on his head; making him immediately let go of Neji as he flung towards the ground, causing his partner to retreat back as he landed face first into the sand, his neck broken from the impact.

The two of them landed onto the ground as Neji fell to one knee, blood dripping out from his head, side, and hand. Lee knelt down beside of him as Neji tried to wave him off "I-I'm fine Lee."

"Neji, you're bleeding quite badly. Please let me take care of your opponents!" Neji tried to respond but couldn't as the two remaining men ran forward with swords held high, causing Lee to quickly run ahead and divide the two by kicking straight down the middle of them.

One stopped and attacked Lee while the other one ran towards Neji. Seeing his teammate was utterly defenseless, Lee quickly countered his opponent; using his own speed to match his opponents as they traded blows back and forth.

Lee eventually got the upper hand as he delivered a kick upwards and connected with the man's jaw, crushing it into hundreds of pieces as he fell backward into the sand. Seeing Neji was still in danger, Lee tried to run towards him.

But it was too late.

Lee was too far out, and the man was right on Neji as he began to bring his sword down.

Neji could only look at him, realizing the one truth of this world.

Fate was absolute.

Fate never had other plans.

That was the world's one truth.

….

….

….

…"Two palms!"

A figure quickly jumped in front of Neji and hit the man's shoulder as they yelled out again "Four Palms!"

Taking another stance, Neji's defender struck again. "Eight Palms!"

The swordsman went wide-eyed as he was struck with insane speed, something he had never seen before "Sixteen Palms!"

Neji went wide-eyed at what he saw in front of him; it was…"Thirty-two Palms!"

Of all the people to save him, it was the last person he expected "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

Yelling out the full technique, the figure hit all of the chakra points of the man as he became completely immobilized as he fell backward into the sand unmoving, his entire body going limp. Neji just stared at the figure in front of him, mouth somewhat agaped as he spoke "H-Hinata?"

The one who had saved him was his cousin Hinata, her Byakugan in full effect as she was panting heavily; having used most of her energy in that attack. Despite her heavy breathing, she was able to give a small smile as she looked back "N-Neji, a-are you ok…?"

"I-I'm fine…" Neji grimaced as he spoke as Lee made it over and bent down, inspecting his wounds.

"This is not good; these wounds are rather deep. Hinata! We must get Neji to safety as soon as we can!"

"R-Right!" What was going on? Why was Hinata saving him? All he had ever done was insult her, disrespect her, made her feel like trash for how he treated her. He never once thought about ever putting her life above his own.

Yet here she was, saving him from certain death. She even smiled at him and asked if he was alright, was this the Hinata he always knew? The same goes for Kiba, who had always been one of his ire as well, yet Kiba saved him as well.

Neji didn't know what to say or do, his consciousness trying to go out thanks to the blood loss.

"There they are! Kill them!" A man sounded out as more swordsman appeared, causing Lee and Hinata to take battle stances.

"It looks like we have more foes to take down first, are you ready Hinata?"

"Y-Yes! Let's go!" Hearing her somewhat confident for the first time, Neji could only watch as her and Lee ran forward towards the group of men.

…

…

That was all he saw before everything went black.

* * *

"W-What do you mean? You can't mean what I think you mean!" One of the councilmen yelled out towards the Head Councilmen, who simply nodded.

"Of course that's what I mean, what else could I be implying?" The regular councilmen gritted his teeth as he stared at the head councilman, while the other counselors also looked on in shock. Even the usually emotionless Gaara had a look of somewhat surprise.

Everything was silent after those words, could the Head Councilman really be implying what they thought he was implying? It was absurd if it was, after all, they were trying to suppress the rebellion, not entice it!

Baki didn't say anything as he looked on in both shock and intrigue, he couldn't believe he had just heard what he thought he heard, yet it was intriguing. It was true that Konoha just did the exact same thing the Head Councilmen was suggesting, yet the circumstances were different.

Right?

In a sense, he thought they were different, but he also knew that they were similar. However, before he could think any longer, one of the councilmen pointed as Baki as he screamed out "I nominate Baki as the Fifth Kazekage of Sunagakure!"

Baki looked at the man in confusion; he just said he didn't want the position, so why was he suddenly nominated. Yet almost immediately after another councilman spoke: "I second the nomination of Baki as our Fifth Kazekage!"

A nomination and a second, meaning that officially the council had to vote on the matter. Yet Yuki just sighed as he looked at Baki directly in the eyes "I know your answer, yet for the second time I guess you can share your thoughts. Baki, do you accept the nomination for the Fifth Kazekage of Sunagakure?"

Baki returned the stare before he closed his eyes and shook his head "I decline."

The other councilmen gave him pleading looks, yet he didn't change his stance, causing many of them to look at each other in worry. They needed to name a Fifth Kazekage fast, and the longer they waited, the more likely that other villagers would join the rebellion.

"We mustn't be petty about this! We all know what is best for the future!" The Head Councilman yelled out, yet another counselor retorted.

"Yuki-sama! Konoha still hasn't even had a public ceremony for their new Hokage for the very reason that we don't even wish to consider your suggestion!"

"The difference is the way they have handled things so far! Do not forget that their higher-ups despised the Jinchuuriki and actively tried to ruin his life! Yet it was never like that here! Ours was always hidden in the shadows and was only known for being the Jinchuuriki! He was always held away from the others and was made a monster by Fourth Kazekage-sama! Yet I fully believe he has changed!"

"How can you be so confident over such a small sample size!?"

"Because I could feel it! The need to change was publicly expressed, and he didn't act as he did before! He killed the original planners of their plan to take over, which in turn forced them to go this far! Maybe he should have reported them instead of killing them, yet because of him; we can finally kill the traitors among us! Also, he's protected me ever since, always using sand clones as replacements for me! I never once felt in danger around him!"

"Still Yuki-sama…"

"Also, if you are still worried, do not forget this councils role! We've always been divided, yet by quilling this rebellion we will finally be united! This is important because the Council can unanimously vote to recommend the Kazekage to be removed by the Daimyo! We've never been unified against one Kazekage before for it to happen, yet we are unified now; so should problems arrive then we have the tools to fix it this time!"

The councilman was silent for a moment as he looked toward the others before taking a gulp "Then...I motion that if the Kazekage is removed by the Daimyo because of a council recommendation, then the one who nominates him and the one who seconds him will also be removed and placed under probation!"

It was silent for a moment until another Counselor rose "I second this!"

The Head Councilman took a deep sigh as he nodded, he knew this was the only way for this to work "Very well, the motion is approved!"

The other councilmen nodded as they looked around, wondering just who would second the incoming nomination.

"Now...Let's start! I hereby nominate Gaara, the son of the Fourth Kazekage, to the role of Fifth Kazekage!"

Silence followed afterward as everyone looked around, even Gaara seemed to be moving his eyes to see if anyone would speak up. Yet he doubted anyone would the counselors were some of the few people who knew how dangerous he had become and he didn't blame anyone for not speaking, especially with that rule in place that associated his failure with them.

So he accepted that the nomination would die down and the Head Councilman would be picked, it was only a matter of time until-

"I second the nomination!" Gaara looked up in surprise as did the others as all of their eyes landed on…

"B-Baki!" One of them called out towards Baki, who simply smiled as he had spoke. "Y-You…"

Baki was quiet as he looked at Gaara dead in the eyes and spoke "There, now you can't fail. Otherwise, you'll be putting my life through hell as well, something you never want for your sensei."

Gaara just stared at Baki in shock; he couldn't believe what he just heard. Baki was technically his sensei, but he never thought of him as one. He saw him as someone his father had hired to keep watch on him.

Yet here Baki was, standing up in support of him.

The Head Councilman smiled and nodded as he looked at Gaara and spoke "Then...Gaara, do you accept the nomination as the Fifth Kazekage?"

Gaara was quiet as he looked down at the ground. He honestly didn't think he deserved it, especially after how he had acted. Yet he had zoned in on one thing that had been said during the discussions.

The Jinchuuriki of Konoha was now the Fifth Hokage.

He wasn't one hundred percent sure, but he had felt the presence of a Biju during his fight with Naruto. He wondered, did that mean that Naruto became Hokage? And if he did, then did Gaara have any right to accept a position of the same magnitude after following hate all of his life, while Naruto followed Love?

No, he didn't. Yet...He felt that if he accepted, then he could follow the path Naruto was on, and maybe, just maybe, eventually become like him. Letting all hate die out and be replaced by love, the one thing he always tried to run away from.

Taking a deep breath as he looked up, clear emotion in his eyes as he nodded "I accept."

The others gulped as they looked at each other, yet the Head Councilmen simply nodded as he looked at Baki "Very well then. Baki! Contact Daimyo-sama while I prepare the vote!"

* * *

"Take this!" Tenten yelled out as she swung her two blades down and met the swordsman that were aiming for her life while lifting her leg and hitting the puppet behind her with a weapon she kept concealed on her leg.

She had been cut off from Shino almost from the start and had been battling by herself since then. She had been able to take out a few of the enemies thanks to her multitude of weapons, yet she was fighting on enemy turf, and she was running low on supplies.

Tenten kicked herself off the ground and landed away from the men as she pulled out a scroll and unrolled it to summon a metal bow into her hands as she quickly took aim and fired arrows with explosion tags on them.

The men jumped out of the way, yet the puppet wasn't fast enough as it got caught in the blast; exploding into pieces causing its puppeteer to fall back and begin the process of summoning another puppet.

Not wanting to let the enemy regroup; however, Tenten aimed and fired another exploding arrow at the puppeteer. However, a sand wall was quickly formed in front of him as a shinobi joined her battle, stopping the exploding arrow in the process.

Cursing her luck, Tenten resealed the bow as she took out another scroll and summoned a ball and chain. With a shinobi jutsu user now in the mix, she had to be fast and agile to avoid all of his attacks and still stay on the offensive.

She began to run towards the shinobi as he jumped in front of the sand wall and ran at her as he formed another jutsu; causing a sand vortex to appear underneath her which momentarily trapped her. While she was stuck, the swordsmen jumped out to attack her; yet she used her chain as she threw it and wrapped it around of the swordsman's leg as she brought him towards her, and used him as a shield against the other one as the sword went through the man's chest.

She then jumped out of the vortex and wrapped her chain around the other swordsmen neck and broke it, letting his body fall into the vortex as she jumped fully out and stared down the shinobi across from her.

Not even caring about his comrade's loss, he pulled out a kunai and started to run at Tenten, making her smirk as she began to size him up as she ran at him as well.

However, she suddenly stopped and quickly through her chain; trying to wrap it around the shinobi's leg much like she did with the swordsmen from a moment ago. Yet as soon as it wrapped around his leg, his body dispersed into sand making her go wide-eyed, as he suddenly popped out of the sand behind her and grabbed her neck and arm.

"Got you now." He began applying pressure, trying to break her neck as Tenten felt parts of neck try to pop as the force increased. Realizing she had very little time to act, Tenten quickly took her foot with her concealed weapon as she struck the man in the leg, causing him to let up enough that she was able to push him off and then stab him in the shoulder with another one of her scroll weapons.

The man staggered backward as she kept on the offensive, attacking him with every weapon she could as his injuries and her pressure significantly decreased his speed, not allowing him to use a jutsu to get some distance between the two of them.

Finally, when she saw an opening, she summoned a long sword and extended it out as it struck the man right through the chest, a cry of pain emitting from him when she did so.

However, as soon as she stabbed the man, she felt a sharp pain enter into her own back as she went wide-eyed as her entire body began to go numb as blood ran down her back.

While the man she had stabbed died from the sword to the heart, Tenten fell to the ground unmoving; her eyes wide from the shock as she felt her entire body tingling with an unpleasant sensation rushing through it.

She moved her head down, and she saw it. The puppeteer from earlier had summoned a new puppet which shot poison, and a needle had gone right into her back and quickly spread throughout her body thanks to how fast acting it was.

The puppeteer readied up another needle at her, and she knew that if it hit; she was a goner. Yet she couldn't move, and soon the needle came towards her as she looked at it with horror.

However, the needle never reached her as suddenly a hand grabbed it in the middle of the air, shocking her as she looked up at the new combatant. "S-Shino…"

Shino Aburame appeared as he caught the needle in the air as a swarm of insects attacked the puppet and puppeteer; which caused the puppeteer the inability to save himself with his puppet as it was attacked as well.

After eating through the chakra strings, the bugs on the puppet then attacked the puppeteer and finally finished him off.

Once he was dead, Shino quickly bent down as he lowered his hand as bugs began to crawl out and onto Tenten's back, who wanted to shake from the sudden feeling of tiny legs on her; yet she couldn't even do that. "Don't worry, you're safe; why? Because my bugs will eat the poison in you and also transfer Chakra over."

"S-Shino...I-I'm sorry…"

"Hm? You have nothing to be sorry over; I've failed in battle before as well." Shino referred to the time his father had to save him after his fight with Kankuro, as Tenten didn't respond as the bugs ate away at the poison in her while Shino also transferred his own chakra over.

It took several moments, and they were in danger the entire time, but eventually, the poison was completely gone. Immediately afterward, Shino had his bugs begin to form a cocoon around Tenten as she still had all of her energy zapped from the poison.

"I'm going to form a cocoon around you and then protect you, why? Because the cocoon will defend you from direct blows while I watch out to make sure you aren't surrounded."

"S-Shino...W-Why?"

That was all she could muster, and for a moment Shino didn't say anything, but at the last moment she saw a rare smile on his face "Because you're my teammate."

"Shino…" That was the last thing she heard or saw as the bugs enwrapped her entire body.

* * *

Everyone sat quietly at the table, nervousness evident on their face as Gaara stood at the foot of the long table next to the Head councilmen; Kazekage hat in the arms of the Head. They waited as the large screen that had been rolled in gena to turn on.

After several long seconds, the picture came in as the Wind Daimyo; having only come into power after the failed attack on Konoha, could now be seen on the screen. Everybody did a bow towards him as the Head Councilman spoke up "It's an honor to speak with you Daimyo-sama."

"Yuki, I was told this is an urgent matter; Is everything alright?" The Head Councilman nodded as he detailed everything, from the planned coup to the resulting battle that was going on, to finally their plans to quickly name a Kazekage to quell the rebellion. The Daimyo just nodded as he listened to everything until he had been told "I see...So this is quite an urgent matter then."

"Yes my lord! We must quickly name a Kazekage, so our forces know who to attack! Currently, many of them are avoiding the battle, and the few who are joining are fighting with the rebels since they're fighting against Konoha shinobi! Unless we get the Konoha ninja aid soon, the numbers game will quickly catch up!"

"I understand, though I can safely assume you've already decided on a nominee?"

"Yes, Lord! The Nomination has been seconded and now awaits a vote from the council and your approval! The Nominee in question is the young man right beside of me, the son of the Fourth Kazekage and the Jinchuuriki of Suna! His name is Gaara."

"I see…" The Daimyo looked Gaara over as he seemed to nod "He appears to be quite young, so I'm glad you met that quality that I had asked for. However, you are taking a risk by naming the Jinchuuriki as the Kazekage, especially since I know that Gaara was one of the main weapons held by the previous Kazekage."

"I know that, but I feel like he truly will be a great Kage and does plan to repent for all of his past actions! I...I've watched him since he was a child, and I know he has good in him! Just like his father, for all of his faults, had good in him!" The Daimyo nodded once again as seemed to think before speaking.

"If you feel that passionate about it, and I've known you for years Yuki, your passions always seem to work out...Very well, just be warned I'll be watching over him like a hawk until he's completely proved himself as Kazekage; understand?"

"Yes! I understand Lord!" The Daimyo nodded as he looked at Gaara and nodded.

"Then Gaara, I approve your nomination as the Fifth Kazekage! Now hurry up and vote to confirm him so we can end this sideshow put on by the traitors!" Everybody nodded as they nervously began to vote.

Nobody wanted to say no in front of the Daimyo, yet they still had heavy hearts about confirming Gaara. Still, they had a lot of insurance on him should he act out of line, so that made them feel better if anything.

Finally, after just a few minutes…"The votes have been counted! By a vote of Seven to Zero, Gaara has been approved and now appointed the Fifth Kazekage!"

As soon as the words left the Head Councilman's mouth, Baki picked up the Kazekage hat and placed it on Gaara's head; making the young Jinchuuriki a bit emotional as he tried to suppress it.

Yet any joyful emotion that usually came from such an event was overshadowed for the time being as the Daimyo spoke back up "Now then, I'll inform the Fire Nation of what has happened. Kazekage-sama, please hurry up and this little farce."

Gaara looked up at the Daimyo as he nodded "Very well."

The Daimyo nodded as the picture on the screen turned off as everybody in the room stayed silent, fear in all of them as they looked at Gaara. Yet Gaara didn't make any sudden movements as he looked down at the Head Councilman and spoke: "Have every shinobi, whether they be a genin, jonin or ANBU, to take out the traitors."

"Of course...Kazekage-sama." The head councilman smirked as he snapped his finger as one of Suna's ANBU agents appeared "Inform every shinobi of what the Kazekage has ordered. Anyone who fails to comply should be considered a traitor and killed."

"Understood!" The ANBU vanished as everyone quietly sat, still not comprehending what was all going on. Yet Gaara began to talk as Baki followed.

"Ga-...Kazekage-sama, where are you going?"

Gaara stopped as he spoke "The top of the tower, I'll be lending my support from afar."

"Let me come with you."

"No. Go assist on the field, this shouldn't take much longer anyway."

"...Very well." Baki nodded as Gaara walked on and up the stairs, leaving everybody as Baki took a breath and gripped his hand "Let's end this!"

* * *

"Damn...They just keep coming!" Kiba yelled out as he jumped backward, Akamaru having reverted back to his dog form from exhaustion and damage as he laid in Kiba's sweatshirt. He had killed quite a few along with Guy and Kurenai, but as more Shinobi joined in, the numbers game was quickly catching up.

Guy didn't show anywhere near the exhaustion of Kiba, but he was starting to slow down a bit as he took on four guys and battled with them, blocking their attacks as he countered and killed one before backing up some.

Kiba and Guy both jumped back to the middle where Kurenai was, who was also starting to slow down as the signs of exhaustion were prevalent on her face as well. All three of them were panting as the shinobi closed in on them ready to strike.

Yet before they could, a huge gust of wind ran across the battlefield before poison needles flew through the air and struck the enemy shinobis. When Kiba looked over, he saw Temari and Kankuro had rushed over to them, both ready for battle.

Temari quickly ran over to them as she called out "Something big is happening!"

Guy looked at her, sweat pouring down his face as he spoke: "W-What do you mean?"

"Kankuro and I were evacuating the citizens when an ANBU agent appeared and told us to join the battlefield and assist you. It was an order...From the Kazekage…"

"Kazekage? I thought…"

"Yeah, our father, the Fourth Kazekage was killed. So this means they've appointed the Fifth Kazekage moments ago! If I had to guess it was to help quell this rebellion since the Kazekage is now involved; it's more obvious who the enemy is to the others!"

"I see, so who is the Kazekage?"

"No idea, but if I had to guess it would be the Head Councilmen, Yuki." Guy nodded as suddenly more shinobi ran over to them to attack, yet before they even got close they were cut down as several Suna ANBU agents appeared.

In fact, before they could even blink, the battlefield was soon covered in not only ANBU but genin, chunin, Jonin, everybody. The crazy thing was…

They were all attacking the rebels…

What was a huge disadvantage for Konoha, soon turned into an advantage as the numbers game was reversed. Many of the attackers tried to go on the defensive as they were blindsided by their fellow villagers turning on them; not realizing it was because the Kazekage had ordered their deaths.

The battle didn't last much longer after that; the numbers were too large with the entire village attacking and soon the entire rebellion was squashed.

* * *

_Unknown Location_

"So, any reason you asked me to come here with you?" The Legendary Sannin Jiraiya spoke in a hushed tone as he followed the Jonin Anko Mitarashi through a large cave.

They had left Konoha several days ago, and while the two hadn't talked much during the trip, it was obvious that whatever Anko wanted to show Jiraiya was important.

So he was rather surprised when she asked him to come into a random cave with her.

He thought she had stumbled upon a battle with important information, or an enemy camp or maybe even found a high-class missing-nin, yet so far the cave had been emptied. A part of him also wished she wanted to help his research...But he kind of figured she would snap him like a twig if he even suggested that.

So he continued to follow her in silence in the damp cave, the only source of light being a lantern she had brought with her. Even after asking her his question, she remained silent as they continued to walk, snakes slithering by them without warning.

Until finally they reached the back wall.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow as he sighed "I hope you didn't invite me here to draw cave symbols…"

"Tch, like I would do something like that." Anko spoke as she moved her hand across the wall until finally, she stopped "Here."

Anko pushed into the wall, and sure enough, the panel went in as the wall soon began to descend into the ground, revealing another room entirely "I see."

Jiraiya nodded as the two walked into the secret room, the smell of death and rotten flesh quickly filling the air, making him almost puke from how potent it was.

After walking in a bit more, he found the source of the smell as on a large table in the middle of a room was a corpse, mutilated beyond repair as rats feed off of the rotted bones. Despite the scene, neither ninja said anything as Anko walked by and over to a desk in the back of the room.

"This is one of Orochimaru's hideouts, though it's been abandoned for some time. I found it shortly after the attack when I was still giving chase to the bastard. Other than the corpse I thought nothing was in here, until…"

Anko opened up a drawer on the desk, revealing a notebook.

"I found this." She picked up the notebook and tossed it over to Jiraiya, who easily caught this. "Figured you would find the information inside quite interesting."

"Hm? What is it?"

"It's details of some cloning shit Orochimaru tried, though most of it ended in failure. However, the second to last page details a very interesting report." Jiraiya flipped to the back of the book as he read over the page in question.

His eyes scanned it, not finding anything until…

His eyes stopped…

This…

Anko nodded at his shocked expression as she spoke "I didn't want to believe it at first, but the details match up. After all, there are two testing tubes in here, yet only one decomposed body."

She wasn't wrong about that; two testing tubes had been used here. While one was destroyed and seemed to be the birthplace of the body on the table, the other one seemed to still be operational as it was set to on; though all power to it had been long gone.

Jiraiya swallowed as sweat ran down his face, his hands shaking as he looked at Anko "T-This means…"

"Yeah...Naruto Uzumaki, the Fifth Hokage...Is, technically, the grandson of-"

_**Bang** _


	12. Konoha Recovery Arc VI:Final

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Arc is nearing its end, and though a few loose ends exist, everything is almost completed, however; many mysteries still exist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So folks, here it is; the last chapter of the current arc other than the Epilouge. It's been a ride hasn't it? The next chapter hopefully won't take long as it's tying up all the final things before the big public ceremony for Naruto! What happens after that? Well I've foreshadowed it last chapter actually, so maybe you can find it!

"Looks like you had a long day today." Teuchi looked over at Naruto, who was slumped down on his stool, patiently awaiting his next bowl of ramen. Beside him sat Kakashi, who just looked at Naruto as he awaited for him to respond.

"That's one way of putting it." Naruto pushed himself up as he gave another sigh, not even the smell of ramen could reinvigorate him "So much has been going on, from getting a report that Suna wants to renegotiate the surrender agreement, to the weird notice I got from the Land of Rivers."

"Weird notice?" Naruto nodded as he plopped his head up with his hand.

"Yeah, the Daimyo sent me a letter and a bunch of gifts, saying stuff like we're not going to interfere with your plans and what not...I don't really know what they're talking about, but it's just really confusing. Add that to the fact that the teams will be arriving in Suna tomorrow, and I have a lot on my plate right now."

"Ah right, I heard some people talk about how the Suna prisoners were being transported out of the village a few days ago; I kinda figured that was your doing, but I didn't say anything obviously. Well if anything, you should get more details concerning that surrender agreement tomorrow." Naruto nodded as Teuchi walked over and laid a bowl down in front of him, making Naruto just look at it in a daze.

"I guess, though who knows? Things may get even weirder when they come back; just like things went a few days ago."

"A few days ago?" Naruto nodded as it was Kakashi's turn to let out a sigh as he took over speaking.

"Call it a lover's quarrel on his part, just without the lovers part."

"Huh?" Teuchi raised an eyebrow as he looked at Kakashi, what was he talking about?

"Well...I'm sure you know, but many of the girls at the academy had two universal rules they followed. To be madly in love with Sasuke, and to hate Naruto. Well, two of those girls are now changing the rules some, which is making it clear their true feelings."

"Wait, I'm lost. What exactly is going on? And what do you mean true feelings?"

"Well think about it; two girls both love the same guy and fight over him each and every day. Yet when one of the girls starts to love another guy, the second girl follows suit; ignoring the first guy completely. When that happens, it's obvious that it's now a personal competition than actual love, right?"

"I-I guess...I don't ever have to deal with this since Ayame never talks about her love life or anything. But I'm guessing that's been a problem lately for him?"

"You could say that…" Kakashi looked at the dazed Naruto as he gave a small smile "Right? Hokage-sama?"

Naruto glared over at Kakashi as he spoke "I could do without the mocking. But yeah, that's more than likely the truth. Which sucks because it's going to hurt their missions beyond belief."

Teuchi nodded as he leaned against the counter and spoke "Well, you have all the time you want. Mind telling me what happened?"

Naruto was silent for a moment until he nodded as he took his chopsticks and slowly ate "Well, it all happened when Team Ten returned."

* * *

_A few Days Ago  
_

Naruto looked out the window as he stood in his father's outfit and cloak, his hat tied around his waist as he had his hands stuffed into his pockets. He had, for the most part, finished the paperwork that needed to be done for the day, so he had spent the last few minutes soaking in the view and having a casual conversation with Kakashi.

Not that his day was over or anything, Asuma would be present any minute; along with the Carpenters and the details of the payment. He did have a burning sensation in the pit of his stomach due to the fact that he had gotten the news about Suna wanting to redo parts of the agreement, but he had hoped it wouldn't be anything too outlandish.

Finally, after several moments, the door opened as Asuma walked in, his team could be seen behind him, yet he shut the door before they could look in. He was initially going to have them wait outside like before, yet Naruto had requested he bring them in and wait outside of his office.

Asuma immediately took note of Naruto's new look, surprise on his face from how much he resembled his father. However, once it wore off, he quickly coughed into his hand as he spoke: "We're back Hokage-sama."

Naruto turned around and smiled, walking over to the front of his desk as he leaned back on it "Glad to hear, any problems along the way?"

"Yes actually...We were involved in a skirmish against a missing-nin, though I have doubts about who he claimed to be after investigating his body afterward. I brought back some DNA and fingerprints to be examined to fully identify the body just to be sure. Nobody was hurt, and we had no problems on our way back."

Naruto nodded as he grimaced a bit, hoping that they wouldn't have any problems on the way over there. Still, he was glad nobody was hurt; and he would be sure to award them with some extra days off for their efforts.

"Also, regarding Tazuna, he has an important matter to discuss not only with you; but with Daimyo-sama as well." Naruto had a look of surprise on his face as Asuma spoke, mostly about the Daimyo. Naruto hadn't talked with the Daimyo any since he assumed office, though he figured that would be changing soon.

"I see, well after I explain some rearrangements with you and your team; I'll meet with him."

"Rearrangements?"

"Yeah, they're quite big, to be honest. Before that though, anything else to report on?"

"No lord, the entire crew is here and are ready to begin reconstruction as soon as possible."

"Awesome! The village really needs it right now! Alright, well first go ahead and send Shikamaru in; I have some good news for him." Asuma smiled as he gave a nod, knowing exactly what Naruto was talking about.

Asuma turned and slipped out of the door, and as Naruto waited patiently; he felt a pit form in his stomach. Shikamaru was one of his best friends from childhood, and he honestly wouldn't be surprised if Shikamaru had somehow already figured out he was Hokage; he was that smart.

After a few moments, the door crept back open as Asuma came in with Shikamaru behind him; the air in the room becoming thin from the sudden genjutsu applied by the ANBU to make sure Choji and Ino didn't listen in.

As soon as Shikamaru's and Naruto's eyes met, the two of them just gave each other a smile as Shikamaru spoke: "Well, it seems like my deduction was correct."

"Heh, I had a feeling you knew." Naruto pushed himself off his desk as he began walking over to Shikamaru, hands in his pockets "Still impressive, considering how secret everyone has been keeping it."

"It took a lot of events happening together for me to even have the pieces to fit together, and even when I did, they weren't exactly solid pieces. If I didn't know you personally, then I would have never guessed."

"Well, it's a good thing you're a brother to me." Naruto reached Shikamaru, and instead of shaking his hand, Naruto went straight in and wrapped his arms around Shikamaru; surprising the young genin.

"H-Hey, what are you-"

"I did it Shikamaru." Naruto whispered to Shikamaru, causing him to just stare at the cloak on Naruto's back "I finally did it...I became something worthwhile."

Naruto made sure to whisper the words so no one else could hear him but Shikamaru, and when he did hear the words, he just went wide eyed before halfway closing them as he brought a hand up and patted Naruto on the back "Yeah, you actually did. I'm glad that you finally showed those bullies who they were really messing with."

Naruto let out a small chuckle as he pulled himself away from Shikamaru slightly, his eyes red from the few tears that came out "Hehe, well I haven't seen since that day, so I get the feeling you guys showed them really what for."

"I guess, but this just cemented it." Naruto nodded as he took a step back and extended a hand out to Shikamaru, who gladly reached up and shook it.

"I would have never gotten this far without you and the guys, so thanks."

"Heh, anytime...Hokage-sama." Naruto narrowed his eyes as Shikamaru before bursting out laughing, causing Shikamaru to laugh as well.

"Well, I can excuse it this one time." Naruto gave a few more small laughs before he motioned Shikamaru over to his desk, before going around and opening one of his drawers "I have something to show you."

"Hm? What is it?"

"This." Naruto pulled out a document and handed it to Shikamaru, who took it without hesitation "It's a recommendation from the Retired Ninja Council. A recommendation to promote you to Chunin."

"I see...So he actually wasn't lying this time." Asuma gave Shikamaru a look that screamed 'What do you mean this time?' as Shikamaru gave a sigh "Well, I've been thinking about this ever since we started on our way home."

"I see. Well, you should have an answer then, but I'll go ahead and tell you what the book says." Naruto pulled out a book that detailed official descriptions on all the ninja ranks, something he had been using to study with. "Ah, here it is! Now then, Shikamaru Nara! Do you accept the position of a Chunin of Konoha? The position will require you to resign from your current team, and do both solo missions and team missions with people you have never trained with before. You will be at a higher risk than the average genin, but also will receive a bigger pay. So, what do you say?"

Naruto seemed to be satisfied with himself for saying something so official and important sounding, making Shikamaru rub the back of his head "Man, that's a lot of work...Honestly, if it were anyone else, I would say no."

"Anyone else? So you mean…"

"Well, be a bad look to turn down one of my best friends. It's a drag for sure, but it is what it is. So yeah, I'll accept it." Naruto got a massive grin on his face as Asuma nodded, proud of Shikamaru's resolve. Naruto then looked over to Kakashi, who just gave a small nod as he took a scroll out and then released what was inside, revealing the traditional green vest of Konoha.

"As a chunin, this will be your new style of clothing. Everything else like weapons and tools will be up to your discretion of course. Now Shikamaru, if you just sign here, then the first part of today's meeting will be over."

Shikamaru sighed as he nodded, taking the pen and paper from Naruto as he signed his name. After signing it, Naruto took the paper and placed it in a folder on his desk as he looked back to Asuma.

"Alright...Send the others in." Naruto was a bit nervous about this, but he had told Sakura and Sasuke, so he should have no problems telling Ino and Choji.

Right?

He hoped so anyway. Asuma just gave a nod as he walked back towards the door and quickly opened and closed it as he left, the silence in the room almost deafening as Shikamaru grabbed the green vest and placed it on, revealing it to be a perfect fit for him.

Finally, after a few moments, Asuma opened the door back up as he looked at Naruto and spoke "Hokage-sama, I present to you the members of Team Ten. Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi."

Naruto took a deep breath as Choji and Ino both walked into the room, confusion on their face. While Choji seemed to realize it right away, as evident by his wide eyes and agape mouth, Ino just kept looking around the room before she spoke: "Where's Hokage-sama at?"

Shikamaru wanted to facepalm at her question, yet Naruto just gave a small laugh as he walked around his desk and spoke: "Where's the Hokage?"

Ino looked at him and raised an eyebrow "Huh? Why are you here Naruto, did the Hokage call you as well?"

Naruto gave a small laugh as he just shook his head, allowing for her mind full of denial to let her know the truth. Choji though just kept looking at Naruto with wide eyes, especially when Naruto slightly turned, and he saw the Hokage hat around his waist.

Ino kept looking back and forth between Kakashi and Asuma, before concluding "Ha! So it's Kakashi-sensei! That actually makes a lot of-"

Before Ino could continue, her words got caught in her throat as Naruto had turned around, and by doing so, she easily saw the Kage hat and cloak with the kanji for Fifth Hokage inscribed on the back of it, and the person who was wearing it…

Was Naruto.

Ino stared, not wanting to believe her eyes as she raised a shaky hand, confusion filling her mind "W-Why is Naruto…?"

Nobody said anything before Asuma smirked, "Is anything wrong with Hokage-sama?"

"Hokage-sama...Naruto is…?" Ino placed her hand over her mouth as Asuma nodded, the reality of the situation slowly sinking in and hitting her as she stared at Naruto in disbelief. She couldn't believe...Naruto Uzumaki, the kid who everybody laughed at, made fun and bullied was now Hokage?

The kid that her parents had warned her about? The one they said to never go near and never talk to?

That Naruto?!

Ino gulped as she stared, no more words coming out as Choji was the next one to speak "Naruto...When did you…?"

"On the day you were assigned your mission." Naruto gave a laugh as he turned back around and leaned onto his desk, crossing his arms as he gave a look of genuine happiness to Choji and Ino "That was the day that I achieved my dream."

Choji nodded, not knowing what else to say. Naruto was one of his best friends growing up, so to see that he had finally become the one thing he always wanted to become?

Choji couldn't help but have tears come down his face, causing Naruto to speak again "Hey no need for tears, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you earlier."

Naruto pushed himself off of his desk and walked over to Choji, yet before he was even halfway over to him, Choji ran up to him and engulfed him in a hug, tears streaming down his face as he spoke: "I-I'm so happy for you!"

Naruto gave a gasp of surprise and found it a bit hard to breathe from Choji's hug, yet he kept his smile as he patted Choji on the back "Thanks Choji."

After a minute, Asuma was able to pull Choji off of Naruto as Choji returned to his position beside Ino, tears of joy streaming down his face as he kept his look on Naruto. After Naruto wiped the tears off of the front of his cloak, he spoke: "Any more tears before we begin?"

Naruto gave a laugh, though neither Choji or Ino even chuckled back. The gravity and the moment just hitting them like it was nothing. After realizing neither of them had anything else to say, Naruto continued.

"Very well then, first off; I want to congratulate you on completing your mission! I'm not really sure how the pay system works and everything, whether I have to sign papers, but you should receive the funds in the mail soon...Right?"

Naruto looked over to Kakashi who just gave a nod, making Naruto provide a sigh of relief as he kept going.

"I also heard you fought with a missing-nin on the way over to the Wave Country and was able to kill him, though apparently there has been some confusion on who he actually was. After testing, everyone will receive a bonus payment relative to his rank. Also as a reward, I'll be giving everyone here a few more days off!"

Naruto had hoped that bit of information would get them excited, yet everything was coming so fast, and out of nowhere, they didn't have any time to react. Naruto coughed into his hand as he gave a small sigh and leaned back.

"A-Anyway, thank you for completing the mission and bringing the crew here, they will help a lot. Onto the next topic, it's in regards to your new team."

Both Ino and Choji looked at other before looking back as Choji gulped "N-New team?"

"Yeah. With Shikamaru now being promoted to Chunin, this means he will no longer be apart of Team Ten and will now work as a solo shinobi. This isn't to say that he won't ever work with you guys again, but he will be off on his own a lot more. Because of this, Team Ten is now a member short, and as such a replacement is needed."

"W-Who is it?" Choji seemed a bit worried, not wanting someone he didn't like to be added to the team. If he were being honest, he would love for Kiba to be added, but he figured that would be next to impossible.

"Well about that-"

"Hokage-sama!" Before Naruto could speak, Dragon suddenly appeared beside of him bowed, surprising Ino and Choji.

"Hm? What's up?"

"You have a visitor lord."

"A visitor? Who is it?"

"The genin Sakura Haruno." Naruto raised an eyebrow; he hadn't seen Sakura since she baked him that congratulations cake, so he was surprised she came now of all times. If anything it made the next bit of news easier to say at least.

"Sakura huh? Well, send her in...Oh and Dragon, unless it's an emergency, please don't interrupt me in the future." Naruto was grateful to all the work the ANBU was doing, he really was. But he was kind of getting annoyed how they kept interrupting him, treating every little thing as something serious.

"Understood!" Dragon vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving everyone alone as Ino and Choji looked at each other, both wondering who their new teammate would be. After a few moments, a knock was heard as the door opened to reveal Sakura, holding a bowl in her hand.

"Hey, Naruto!" Sakura seemed to be in a good mood as she walked in; however that changed when her eyes locked with Ino's "Ino…"

"Sakura…" The two rivals glared at each other as Sakura walked by, a bitter feeling being shared between the two of them. "What are you doing here? I thought you were staying by my Sasuke's side?"

Ino had some venom in her words as she spoke, making Sakura look towards Naruto and speak "Hmph, I've been watching over Sasuke quite closely! However, I made something for Naruto and wanted to share it with him."

Ino could see Sakura's cheeks turn pink as she spoke, making her a bit bewildered "H-Hey! What are you-"

"Here you go Naruto!" Sakura quickly walked over to Naruto and handed him a bowl, her cheeks flushed red "I-I worked on it all last night, mom even helped me! I-I hope you like it!"

Naruto took the bowl and opened it, revealing homemade Ramen inside, the smell melting Naruto's nostrils "Wow, this smells delicious! Thanks, Sakura!"

"I-It's no problem ehehe…" Sakura scratched the back of her head as she looked towards the ground, her eyes looking up every few seconds back at Naruto.

"I'll be sure to have some after the meeting." Naruto turned around and placed it on his desk, casually talking to himself as he did so "Man, I still have all that food the girls made me at the funeral; I should have the guys over for a feast sometime."

Sakura raised an eyebrow as she heard this, other girls "W-What do you mean the good the girls made you? What girls?"

"Oh, when I went to the Old Man's private funeral, some of the girls there gave me some homemade food as a gift," Naruto said it in a pretty casual tone, though as soon as he did; an annoyed look was plastered onto Sakura's face as she replied.

"Hmph, w-well I bet it wasn't anything good…"

"Huh? I mean it was decent. It was about what you would expect-"

"Then what about my cooking?"

"Your cooking?"

"Y-Yeah is it...You know...Better than decent?" Naruto backed up some as he sweat came down his face, he was getting a bit freaked out by how Sakura was acting.

Ino, however, wasn't freaked out, she was more...Confused? It was hard to describe. One would think her seeing Sakura be all over Naruto would be great news! After all, this meant that she could finally have Sasuke for herself!

Yet for some reason she didn't feel that way, in fact, she felt even more jealous than before. But what was she jealous over? It's not like Sakura was loving on Sasuke or anything like that, no she was loving on Naruto; someone Ino had interacted with very briefly.

Was she jealous...Of Sakura? No, that can't be it! She would never be jealous of Sakura having feelings for someone else! That's absurd! Sakura was her arch-rival, someone Ino dedicated herself to defeating in the war called love! She wouldn't be jealous of her feelings!

Yet what was she jealous of? The only thing she could think of…

Was Naruto…

Yes, that was it! She was jealous of Sakura being all over Naruto! It wasn't because she was jealous or cared about Sakura, it was because she just now realized it…

She's in love with Naruto! What else could it be? What girl wouldn't be in love with the Hokage, especially someone so young and talented? Sure she might have ignored him in school, called him names, was warned of him by her parents and also viewed him as the weakest out of all the Genin.

Yet deep down she had been hiding a love for him so strong she never wanted to admit.

That had to be it; it couldn't be because she cared for Sakura! Heavens no, she would never love her arch rival! It was obvious to her; she was in love with Naruto!

Realizing her newfound 'feelings' Ino scrunched her face up at Sakura as she spoke "Hey forehead! You're annoying Naruto you know?"

Sakura stopped and turned around towards Ino, disgust on her face "What was that? I don't speak bitch."

Ino glared at her as the intensity between the two of them heated up, only breaking when Naruto coughed into his hand "Can you two please act like shinobi and stop this bickering?"

"O-Oh! Sorry, Naruto~."

"Y-Yeah, sorry Naruto...Sama…" Sakura looked back at Ino with a look of surprise and annoyance, especially when she noticed Ino's blushing face. Ino saw Sakura looking back at her, engaging the two in a glaring contest once more which just made everyone sigh.

Realizing they were getting nowhere fast, Naruto just pressed on as he walked away from Sakura and to the backside of his desk "Anyway, it's a good thing you're here Sakura. We can go ahead and talk about the team arrangements that I mentioned to you a few days ago."

"Huh? Oh yeah, I remember you were talking about that."

"Right, and now almost all the players are here." Everyone looked around at each other, though it seemed everyone except for Sakura and Ino knew what he was about to announce "In the span of a few days, both Team Seven and Team Ten have lost key members. Both because of promotions, with Shikamaru becoming a chunin, and me becoming Hokage. Not only this, but Sasuke remains in the hospital, and even when he is released he will need rest."

Everyone nodded; they knew all of that was true.

"Not only that, but Team Seven doesn't even have a leader anymore now that I've named Kakashi to my personal council, leaving Sakura as the only active member. With the village still recovering, our only option is this." Naruto looked around at everyone as he gulped and continued "Team Seven and Team Ten will be merged into one single team."

Everyone seemed to nod, everyone except for two girls, and just a few seconds after he spoke a collective screaming was heard "What!?"

"I-I have to be on the same team as Ino!?"

"I have to be on the same team as forehead!?" The two looked at each other with an intense glare, enough so for Kakashi to go and stand in between them.

"Yes, that is correct. I know the two of you may disapprove of this, but it's really our only option at the moment, especially since I've not heard back from Team Eight or Team Guy yet."

"B-But I can't work with Ino! She'll just get in the way!"

"A-And I can't work with Forehead! Her head is so big that I won't be able to see anything!"

"What did you say, bitch!"

"Want me to repeat myself, you fat-"

"That's enough!" Naruto slammed his fist down onto his desk, making everyone jump and look towards him as he seemed to be breathing heavily for a moment, and if one looked closely, it seemed his eyes turned red for a split second before vanishing. He composed himself as he lifted his fist and crossed his arms, the room now silent "Can you guys please stop acting like there aren't other guys out there? This village wasn't built on some stupid concepts like Harem marriages, so you have plenty of opportunities out there, right?"

The two of them just looked to the ground a bit embarrassed, especially since they calmed down and realized the scene they were making.

After making sure they had calmed down, Naruto took another breath as he continued "Now, onto the other details. This team will initially start with three genins in Sakura, Ino, and Choji, though you will eventually become a four-person team when Sasuke has recovered. Unless you have any objections, you will lead the team Asuma."

Asuma nodded as he placed his fist over his chest "I understand Lord."

Naruto nodded as a small smile crossed his face "Alright then! Your new team name will be 'Team Moon,' and I'll have you start training together soon."

"Why Team Moon?" Choji spoke with a curious tone; he had never heard something other than numbers used before.

"Well, I'm saving Team Sun for Guy, since he's all about red hot passion haha." Naruto gave a joke as a response, though everyone just looked at him in confusion, making his cheeks red from embarrassment "W-Well; anyway, the actual reason is because Kakashi actually recommended it. He said numbered teams are usually reserved for Academy Grad teams, and since you guys will now technically be on your second ever team, I figured it be good to change it up."

"I see...I like it actually!" Choji gave a smile as Naruto nodded, pleased with the response from him. After looking around and seeing nobody had anything to say, Naruto finished up.

"Alright then. Everyone can take about a week off, and after that, I'll have you all start your training together. Feel free to come to me if you have questions or anything." Naruto then looked over at Shikamaru, who had stayed quiet during the entire thing "Take a week off as well Shikamaru, after that, I'll start finding some work for you."

"Alright…" Shikamaru scratched the back of his head as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and began to file out with the others, Naruto noticing Sakura and Ino still glaring at each other before they both looked back at him with red cheeks, making him sigh.

Once everyone was gone, Naruto placed a hand on his head as Kakashi looked at him "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, that just gave me a headache. You would think they'd be past that stupid stage of theirs where they fought over everything."

"Indeed, though maybe you're just that good looking Naruto." Kakashi gave a little joke towards Naruto, which just made him sigh.

"Shut up Kakashi-sensei."

* * *

_Present Day_

"I see, well that sounds like come conundrum you have there." Teuchi pushed himself off the counter as Naruto continued to stir the ramen and barely eat it, exhaustion filling his body as he let out a sigh.

"You're telling me, I thought it was over after I snapped on them. But sure enough, very next day both of them visit me and get in a fight again. If it weren't for the fact we're so shorthanded, I would have never put them on the same team."

"Well once that Sasuke kid heals up, can't you just replace one of them and have him take their spot? Then you can take the one you replaced and give her another job, like your secretary or something."

"Well, while it's true I have quite a number of positions to fill, I don't think either of them are fit for any of the jobs currently. Besides, I want them to learn and train on the field; especially since Orochimaru is still lurking out there somewhere." Kakashi and Teuchi tensed up a little by the mention of his name, both of them knowing how dangerous he was. "Still though, the old man did seal his jutsu before passing away; so that should give us some time to act."

"Don't underestimate Orochimaru; he's one of the three sannin for a reason." Kakashi looked at Naruto and spoke, his voice completely serious as he gave his warning.

"Right…" Naruto sighed as he laid his chopsticks down "Sorry for having you make this tonight Teuchi, but I'm not really all that hungry."

"Eh it's no problem, I can understand that the job has to be hard on you. I know I wouldn't want to be in your position that's for sure haha." Teuchi gave a laugh as Naruto smiled and nodded, pushing himself to the ground as Kakashi followed.

"Well I'll see you Teuchi, I promise to be more in eating mood next time I swing by!"

"Haha, alright then! I'll see you Naruto!" Naruto gave a wave as he walked out of the stand with Kakashi by his side, the moon barely illuminating the night sky. "Hey Kakashi, I have a question I want to ask you."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Well I was looking through my folders today, and I found one labeled the emergency folder. I looked through it and saw things such as war preparations and high-class assassination orders. However, there were also seven red colored pages as well. Do you know anything about that?"

Kakashi nodded as he answered "Well sort of, I know the basic details of it. As the name implies, they are orders that are to be issued in times of emergency, such as to prepare for war and the such. The Hokage, Hokage Council, and ANBU leaders are allowed to issue them, though the Hokage can overturn any order if not issued by him. Though the Hokage can only issue some of the more extreme orders such as a War Declaration, the CRA, and assassination orders. Really, if anyone other than the Hokage issues an order, it's because the Hokage is away or busy and the village is under attack."

"I see, makes sense. But what were those red papers I saw?"

"Those are last resort emergency orders, that can only be ordered by the Hokage and are only known to the Hokage. They are a last resort, only to be used once because using them any more than once will result in serious loss for the village. All I know is that only eight red papers were drafted, and the only time they have ever been used was by Sarutobi-sama, about four to five years after you were born. Though I have no idea what was used, as again only the Hokage can see what's on the papers."

"Hm, the old man huh? I wonder what the order he issued was?"

"I doubt you're ever going to find out; the protocol is that every document, weapon, witness, and Shinobi are to be disposed of after the order."

"D-Disposed of?"

"Basically, everyone involved other than the Hokage are to be killed off, so no information about the last resort order is leaked." Naruto went wide-eyed as he gulped, realizing just how serious it was to use those papers.

"Wow...Whatever the Old Man used it for...I can't even begin to imagine." Kakashi just nodded as the two continued on in silence, both having different thoughts as the dark night continued on.

* * *

_Same Night, Haruno Residence_

"And there! Perfect!" Sakura praised her work as she put the finishing touches on her cupcakes, spending the last hour baking them. Like everything else she had done in the past week, they were for Naruto of course. She couldn't explain it, but whenever she was around Naruto, she felt her heart speed up, and her thoughts get all misty. She still felt the same around Sasuke, but it seemed her mind had started drifting towards Naruto recently.

If she had to guess, it was because she finally learned the truth about Naruto and all of her negative preconceptions about him vanished. It allowed her to look at him in a more positive light and made her realize just how amazing he was at times.

Still, though, something felt...Off. She couldn't quite place it, and honestly, she would usually ignore the feeling. It was a feeling she had since She first fell in love with Sasuke, and it carried over to her feelings with Naruto. Yet it was stronger this time, and she felt guilty about something, but she had no idea what it was. She figured it wouldn't be anything too important if she couldn't quite remember it, but the fact that it made her so guilty ate away at her.

Trying to push those thoughts away, she began humming a small tune as she started to apply cherries to the top of the dozen cupcakes, the moonlight shining in through the window at her.

However, unknowing to her, she was being watched, not by a negative or hostile force, but by her own mother, Mebuki Haruno. Ever since the truth had come out and the family had a reconcile moment together, they seemed to have grown closer, with Sakura talking to her mother more often and even shopping with her, while allowing her dad to train her.

Yet Mebuki knew something was off with her daughter's behavior, especially since she started cooking every night. Now cooking wasn't a bad thing of course, but the fact Sakura made these desserts and meals every night piqued her interest. So she eavesdropped on her at times and quickly found out about Sakura making everything for Naruto.

At first, Mebuki found it cute, knowing Sakura was just a year away from being old enough to get married. Yet as she watched and listened, she noticed her daughter seemed to be struggling with something as well. She thought it was just because of her newfound feelings, but as she watched she realized that wasn't it.

Wanting to get to the bottom of it, Mebuki went through some old photos and school books Sakura had used when she was young and still in daycare and eventually academy student. It was through this that she finally realized why Sakura seemed to be struggling so much, and it pained her heart at the truth.

It had been two days since she found out, and truthfully she herself was struggling with how to talk to Sakura about it. Not because the subject was taboo in the village or anything, far from it, more so because she knew girls around Sakura's age would suppress feelings and go along with trends and the such, and trying to break them out of that too fast could be emotionally traumatizing.

So she just sat back and watched, waiting to find an opening to start the process of talking about it and having her open up. She wanted her daughter to be happy after all and be happy with the one she truly loved, yet it was a process.

As she watched, she heard faint footsteps as she looked over and saw her husband walking up to her. Carefully closing the door so Sakura wouldn't notice, Mebuki looked at Kizashi and spoke: "You're home late."

"Yeah, I was going to go out drinking with the guys, but something came up, and it ended up being pretty long."

"I see…"

"Anyway, how is she?" Kizashi knew about what Mebuki found, she did tell him after all, and while he wasn't a romantic specialist or anything, he still wanted what was best for Sakura.

"Same as she's been, making something for Hokage-sama."

"Man, he's going to get sick if he eats everything she makes him, especially with much she makes."

"I don't think that's a problem; she came home the other day angrily talking about some girls from the Sarutobi family and how they made food for him as well. Apparently, he's barely eaten anything they've made or anything she's made, so I get the feeling he's pacing himself."

"Well, I guess that's good, be bad if we were the parents of the girl who gave the Hokage a stomach ache." Kizashi gave a laugh though Mebuki just looked at him with an annoyed face as she sighed.

"In any case, we can't just keep watching from the shadows. We are eventually going have to confront her about this, it not only be unhealthy if she continued to suppress this, but it would be very bad if she started making life decisions based on this suppression."

"Right right...Well, I'll mention it at my meeting tomorrow."

"Huh? What meeting?"

"Hm? Oh right, I didn't tell you." Kizashi reached inside of his pocket and pulled out an envelope, sealed by the Hokage crest.

"Huh? Did Hokage-sama summon you?"

"Kinda, it was actually Kakashi who sent this. Apparently, he's on the Hokage Council now and wants to meet and talk with me tomorrow, though he didn't say about what. I'll bring up the issue with him so he can relay it to the Hokage; maybe he can help us with this."

Despite his reasoning, Mebuki just shook her head as she sighed "No, he has enough on his plate. This is something we, her parents, should handle. Getting the Hokage involved would be a waste of his time, even if he is her friend. Still, I know someone who can help."

"Huh? Who?"

"The parents of the one she truly loves of course."

* * *

_The Next Day, Hokage Office_

Naruto sat at his desk as he read over several new folders he hadn't touched yet, mainly the ones detailing all of the missing-nin in Konoha's history and one detailing information on all known Jutsu's.

While the information was interesting, it wasn't the most amazing in the world. Still, it was useful, and could be used in the future should the situation call for it.

As he looked over, Kakashi flipped the page in his book, just passing the time until the meeting with Kizashi was to take place. He hadn't informed Naruto about the meeting, but that was more so because he knew Naruto had more pressing matters to attend to and a simple meeting wasn't really worth his time.

However, things were about to change.

Out of nowhere, Dragon and Tilapia both appeared in front of his desk, causing Kakashi to tense up as he quickly reached down and grabbed a weapon "Hokage-sama!"

"Huh? Dragon? Tilapia? What's going-"

"Lord! Emergency Order Twenty C!" Tilapia quickly shouted out towards Naruto, making him raise an eyebrow?"

"Emergency Twenty C? What's that?" Kakashi narrowed his gaze as he spoke.

"Emergency Twenty is used for international affairs, with Section C being categorized as Terrorist Activity."

"T-Terrorist Activity!?" Kakashi nodded as Dragon looked up, taking over the conversation.

"Lord! Not much is known; however, Daimyo-sama has just been informed of the events by the Wind Daimyo! He is waiting to speak on the matter personally to you."

"Daimyo?... Wait the Wind Daimyo!? That means…!" Naruto gripped his fists as he stood up from his chair, a thousand thoughts running through his head as Kakashi stepped forward and spoke.

"Because of the unknown situation, raise the village security to Maximum and close off the walls! Nobody is allowed to enter or leave! Get the monitor ready and connect to the Daimyo-sama at once!" Kakashi spoke with authority, yet he immediately looked over at Naruto after speaking "Unless you think differently Naruto?"

"A-Ah no, that's fine! Dragon, Tilapia! Immediately do what Kakashi said!"

"Lord!" The both bowed as they vanished in a puff of smoke, as immediately Naruto saw agents outside rushing to the gates and closing over all roads close to the Hokage Tower. His heart was beating out of his chest almost, worried about what was going on.

Yet Kakashi just stayed calm as he walked over and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder "Stay calm, we don't know any details; it may have nothing to do with them."

"But-"

"Naruto. You are Hokage, you can't get flustered at a time like this, especially over an issue that isn't even directly related to the village, at least not a proven one. So calm down, you should be the ones ordering the ANBU, not me, right?"

"R-Right, sorry…" Naruto took a deep breath as he sat back down in his chair, trying to calm down as he waited for the screen to be rolled in so he could talk to the Daimyo about the situation.

After a few moments, the doors opened as two agents wheeled in a screen, quickly connecting it to one of the outlets as they turned it on and a figure began to appear on it.

After a moment, an older man dressed in high-quality robes appeared on the screen, fanning himself as everyone in the room except for Naruto kneeled towards him. Looking around at everyone, Naruto gulped as he straightened up and spoke "Daimyo-sama?"

"Ah! You must be Naruto Uzumaki! It's a pleasure to finally meet the Hokage face to face!" The daimyo spoke with some enthusiasm, pleased to finally meet the one he had named Hokage.

"A-Ah right, a pleasure to meet you as well." Naruto quickly gave a bow towards the Daimyo before clearing his throat "But that's not important right now, what is important is what's happening in the Wind Country?"

"Ah yes, of course. Currently, from my understanding, is that a coup is currently underway in Sunagakure and shinobi from Konoha have been caught up in the attack. They are trying to end the coup as soon as they can, and the first step is by installing a new Kazekage."

"A new Kazekage? Who is it?"

"From what I was told, it's the son of the Fourth Kazekage. Gaara, I believe his name was." Naruto and Kakashi both stared at the Daimyo with questioning looks, was he serious!? Gaara was now Kazekage?

"A-Are you sure!?"

"That is what I was told, so I doubt it's a lie."

"T-Then what should I do!?" Naruto slammed his hand down on his desk, though the Daimyo kept his calm look as he spoke.

"Currently nothing I'm afraid, by the time you get reinforcements over there, the coup will already be over. The best thing to do is to start preparing the medical department because I'm sure it will be needed for the ones who return."

"Nothing...Damn it!" Kakashi stood up from his bow and placed a hand once again on Naruto's shoulder, calming him down as he replied: "Very well Daimyo-sama, I'll do just that."

The Daimyo smiled at Naruto as he nodded "Excellent, then I'll let you get to it. I'll contact you if I hear anything else."

Naruto just nodded as the screen turned off, everybody now keeping their eyes on the young Kage as he looked at Kakashi "Who's over the medical department?"

"...Nobody, the head doctor was killed in the invasion."

"Dammit...Alright then, Kakashi can you prepare the medical-nin to be ready for when not only the prisoners arrive, but also for any other injuries?"

"Yeah." Kakashi nodded as he quickly vanished, leaving Naruto and the still kneeling ANBU in the office.

Taking a deep sigh, Naruto ran a hand over his face as he quietly spoke: "If Only Sensei was here."

* * *

_Unknown Location_

"Yeah...Naruto Uzumaki, the Fifth Hokage...Is, technically, the grandson of-"

_**Bang** _

Before Anko could finish speaking, a loud bang was heard as suddenly the entrance they came through filled with smoke, causing the both of them to take defensive positions.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps could be heard, before soon a figure could be seen walking through the smoke; their hand up to their face as they pushed up their glasses before their voice rang out "Well, I was wondering who our unexpected guests were."

A figure with silver hair walked out, a smirk plastered on his face as Anko glared at him with a look of death as she muttered to herself "Kabuto…"

"Really, I'm surprised by your actions Anko. To bring the great Jiraiya all the way out here because of that little book you found?"

"How did you know-"

"How did I know that was the reason you came here? It's obvious, that's why. This hideout hasn't had importance for a long time now, yet Orochimaru-sama suddenly ordered me to come here and destroy it. Lo and behold, just hours after he told me that, one of the sensors went off saying intruders were nearby. Truly, I think you two coming here was the only reason Orochimaru-sama told me why this place needed to be destroyed."

"So, you know what went on here?"

"No I don't, after all, I wasn't around when this place was still in use. However, thanks to your loose lips, I know two things. This place is connected to that Naruto boy, and that he is also your new Hokage, interesting."

Anko gritted her teeth, frustration filling her after letting that information slip.

"I wonder if the reason you brought Jiraiya all the way here is also related to Naruto Uzumaki? After all, you found whatever information was stored here to be important enough for him to know of it."

"Wait, if you have sensors here, why didn't you get rid of this information before I returned? I suspected you would have at least looked at it."

"Oh I most certainly could have, yet Orochimaru-sama was very adamant on me not knowing what happened here. If he found out that I went out of my way to learn the information stored here, he might not be too happy. However, if I learn the information another way, as in you saying it out loud, then he couldn't say anything about it."

"Tch, that's just a bullshit way to say you planned to trap us!" Anko steaded herself to attack, yet Kankuro still didn't make any moves. Seeing that fighting would get them nowhere, Jiraiya stepped up as he took over the conversation.

"Kankuro, how do we know you're telling the truth about this place? For all we know, you know everything there is about what went on here, such as what this mutilated corpse is." Jiraiya pointed towards the lump of flesh on the table, yet Kankuro merely shrugged.

"Well, you really have no way of knowing if I'm telling the truth or not, for all you know everything I've said is a lie...Or everything you've read in that book is a lie."

"I doubt the book part, Orochimaru wouldn't keep something with such an outlandish claim hidden away for no reason."

"I wonder...Orochimaru-sama is a cautious and cunning man; that book may have been a trap all along. However, it's a trap he didn't even want me to see, so who knows? Still, I doubt you acquired the full truth from that dusty old thing."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Well on my way over here, Orochimaru-sama made an interesting passing remark. He may have said this because he suspected me of finding a roundabout way to learn the contents of that book or to make me distrust the book as a whole. Either way, he had a purpose for saying it."

"Well quit hiding it! What did he say!?"

"Calm down there Oh Great Toad Sage; you're patient enough to write your little books, you can be patient with me. Now, Orochimaru-sama said this on my way out…" Kabuto gave a small laugh as he closed his eyes "All of the information in that book...Is only half of the real truth."

* * *

_Hokage Office_

Naruto paced back and forth in his office, tapping on the desk when he passed by it and giving sighs left, and right, he hated this feeling, it was a feeling he never enjoyed.

The feeling of being powerless.

He couldn't do anything but wait and gather information, something that aggravated him. His thoughts were all over the place, from small things to large things, he hated it! It had been almost an hour since he heard from the Daimyo, and each passing second just served to make him more agitated.

As he was about to utter his up tenth sigh, the door suddenly burst open as one of the ANBU who carried the monitor in quickly ran in and kneeled "Hokage-sama! We've received a transmission from the Wind Country!"

"What? Really!?" Naruto quickly looked at the ANBU, his heart beating out of his chest "Is it Daimyo-sama?"

"No lord! It's the Wind Daimyo; actually, he wishes to speak with you directly."

"The Wind Daimyo? Alright then, show him on screen!"

"Lord!" The ANBU quickly turned on the screen as Naruto sat down at his desk, his hands shaking as sweat ran down the side of his face, the fate of his friends hanging in the balance.

After a moment, a man in a green, royal looking outfit appeared on the screen, his appearance much different than that of the Fire Daimyo. "Hm...Are you Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Yes! Please tell me everything that is going on!" Throwing formalities right out the door, Naruto shouted at the Wind Daimyo, his nerves coursing through him. Yet the Daimyo simply took it in stride, not being bothered by the unprofessionalism.

"Of course...First off, the Rebellion has been put down, and Sunagakure is back in the hands of the Kazekage and his council."

"Kazekage? I thought-"

"To rally the troops and unify them, a new Kazekage was named during the attack. I heard the two of you fought during the invasion of your own village. I hope that is the first and last time you two ever have to cross blades."

"We fought, I can't-" Suddenly a name ran through Naruto's head, making him speechless as he thought about it "Wait…"

"Yes, the Fifth Kazekage is Gaara." Naruto looked at the Wind Daimyo in shock, not at all expecting that type of news. However, a feeling of unease kicked in right afterward, the memory of fighting Gaara rushing back towards him "I assure you that he has changed in the short time since, though he will have to prove in his actions."

"R-Right...A-Anyway, what about the ones I sent to escort the prisoners?" While Naruto was surprised by the news, he would have to think about it later."

"Of course...Well, the good news is that no fatalities occurred to any of the shinobi escorting the prisoners, meaning that all of the ones from Konoha, along with Temari and Kankuro of Suna, survived the attack."

A sense of relief filled Naruto as he closed his eyes and sighed, a small smile growing on his face as he spoke: "Oh thank you…"

"However, two major injuries were suffered in by the Shinobi of Konoha. Neji Hyuga suffered deep cuts across his body and still hasn't regained consciousness. Also, a female Shinobi by the name of Tenten was badly poisoned, and would have died was it not for the efforts of a male named Shino Aburame, who used the Aburame bugs to save her life. She has been drifting in and out of consciousness so far."

"I-I see…" Naruto's small smile left his face as he nodded, while the news wasn't great, at least they weren't dead. Actually, he would have to thank Shino directly for saving Tenten's life if anything.

"If you will allow it, I will have our medical ninja tend to them twenty-four-seven until they are able to travel back to Konoha. We'll also treat the minor injuries suffered to the others such as excess Chakra use and cuts and bruises."

"O-Of course! Thank you Wind Daimyo-sama!" The Wind Daimyo nodded as seemed to look down at something before speaking again.

"Also, the Head Councilman wishes to discuss with you some finer details of the surrender agreement you signed. The Kazekage has already told the Head Councilman to make a deal with you, since he wishes to focus on finding out if any more rebels are hiding in the village. If you allow it, he will travel back with your group and the prisoners."

"Yeah, I got the letter already about them wanting to discuss it some more, so I was prepared."

"Very good, then, in that case, I will let your jonin rest and then I'll allow them to use Suna's video communicator to talk to you. Until then, take care Hokage-sama."

"T-Thanks…" The Wind Daimyo nodded as the screen went blank once again, Naruto seemingly staring at it for an eternity before he leaned back in his chair "As If I didn't have enough on my plate…"

* * *

_2 Hours Later_

"I see, so that's what happened…" Naruto leaned back in his chair as he looked at the monitor with Guy and Kurenai on it, both clearly suffering minor injuries but nothing serious. They had explained to Naruto everything that had happened, from the council's betrayal to Gaara saving them to them finding out about him becoming Kazekage "Well, thank you both, I'm so sorry that all of this happened."

"Hokage-sama, do not fret! Though it was certainly unexpected, I feel this may just bring our bond with Suna even closer in the future!" Guy gave a smile and thumbs up, making Naruto smile. He didn't know if Guy was telling the truth or just trying to cheer him up, but he was happy with the gesture.

"Heh, well I hope so. Anyway, you all can rest in Suna as long as you need, especially with the conditions that Neji and Tenten are currently in."

"Ah about that, Kurenai and I have actually made a decision that we wish to run by you."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Well, we believe it would be best to head off back home as soon as we can. We would leave Tenten and Neji behind to be treated, and then retrieve them once they are healthy enough to come back home. While it would be great to bring them with us, the truth of the matter is that coming to terms on a surrender agreement should be the top priority at the moment, especially to help raise morale. Also, many of the prisoners here, even though they are finally being treated, need to be returned home to their families. We've actually compiled all of their names and have already sent the carrier pigeon back, figured you could use it to have all the families ready when we get back."

"I see, well everything you said does make sense…" Naruto looked over at Kakashi, who had returned about an hour ago, as he spoke: "What do you think?"

Kakashi gave a head nod as he spoke "I agree with Guy and Kurenai on this, it's the best choice of action all things considered. Don't forget, the village comes before anyone ninja; and by getting all of those prisoners back and prepared, we can really beef up our now depleted military force."

"Hm...Right...Alright, Guy, Kurenai! You two are authorized to proceed on your plan."

Both of them saluted and rang out at the same time "Understood, Hokage-sama!"

Naruto smiled and nodded at them; he was getting more used to this Hokage-sama thing "Alright then, you are dismissed!"

The both of them saluted one more time as the screen went blank, causing Naruto to rub his face as he looked over at Kakashi.

"I guess...Now we wait?"

"Yeah...Now we wait. Just remember, that after your meeting with the Head Councilman of Suna, you have to see what the Wave Country want."

"Yeah, I know...At least they've already started helping rebuild the village; construction is going really well!" Kakashi nodded as he suddenly placed his hands in his pockets, and started to walk towards the door "Hm? Going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I have a meeting planned with someone. Nothing to get all worked up over."

"A meeting? With who?"

Kakashi stopped at the door as he turned around and closed his eye and smiled "With potentially your second Council Member."

* * *

_Unknown Location_

"Half of the real truth?" Kabuto gave a nod towards Jiraiya as he placed his hands inside of his pockets as he took a step forward.

"Surely you don't believe Orochimaru-sama would put down all of his information inside of one book, do you? He spreads it out, and that little tidbit towards me was just a reminder of that. So while you may have gotten an important clue in that little book of yours, can you piece the full puzzle together?"

"Kabuto, for someone who doesn't know a lot about this place, you sure know a lot about this book. Have you told us the truth here?"

"I never tell a lie with the intention of covering for said lie later, if that's what you're asking. I'll give out information if it benefits me, whether or not the information I tell you is true or not is up to you to decide."

"Damn you!"

"However, I also acknowledge that your little partner slipped that information about Naruto Uzumaki being the Fifth Hokage, so I guess I'll promise to tell you nothing but the truth from now on; starting with the fact that Anko mentioned that book contained information on Naruto's grandparents correct? Well, his father was an orphan so-"

"Wait! How do you know that? It's top secret that-"

"That Naruto is the son of Minato and Kushina? Please, Orochimaru-sama has information your village wishes it could keep secret."

"Tch...Dammit…"

"Anyway, Kushina Uzumaki's parents were killed, and so she was brought into Konoha to serve as the next Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. Her backstory is well established, and there is little room for error. Minato, however, is a different story, for a few reasons. However, the main ones are that not only was he an orphan, but Namikaze was a name given to him, not one he inherited."

"How much does Orochimaru know anyway? All of that has been so secretly guarded!"

"As I said, Orochimaru-sama has information that your village only wishes would be left to die; it's one of his many talents. Though maybe it's fair after all Orochimaru-sama's ideas have been stolen by Konoha for years now."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean exactly what I say! I mean I can give an example if you want." Kabuto spoke in a jester-like tone, clearly taunting the two as he continued "Judging by your wording and the shape this hideout is in, I can assume this was a hideout that Orochimaru-sama used when he was conducting his cloning experiments."

"Cloning?"

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama has always experimented in cloning, yet not to the extent of before. Years ago, he would often combine two strands of DNA to see what type of clone the child would be like. However, for every clone that came out great, he had a hundred that ended up like that corpse. Still, he made major breakthroughs, such as the ability to combine a nonsperm or egg DNA, allowing various possibilities. Such as combining two males, or two females, to create a 'child' if you would, of them."

"T-That's inhumane…"

"You act surprised as if you don't know the experiments he has done. Still, 'children' with the DNA of the two of the same sex combined didn't last as long, due to missing essential genes passed down from one side. Not that it stopped the Third Hokage from secretly working on the same project in case you had a significant loss of one kind of sex during a war."

"W-What did you say?"

"Oh? I'm surprised that not even you know of that. I will admit I have no idea if that little escapade is still ongoing, but I'm sure the Fifth could find out for you. However, I'm sure other experiments such as jutsu and bloodline transfers are still ongoing, killing innocent civilians of your village in the name of research."

"None of that can be true Kabuto! I would have known if anything like that was going on!"

"Still don't believe me? Well whatever, it's really your ignorance at the end of the day. Back to the subject at hand, however, tell me something Anko…" Anko glared at him as he smirked: "Read through all the names in that book, tell me if you notice anything."

Anko raised an eyebrow as she opened the book and began reading through all the names, after a page flip or two, her eyes went wide as she spoke: "W-Wait, what?"

"What's wrong? What's in that book?" Jiraiya spoke to her in a worrisome tone as she looked at the book puzzled.

"I didn't notice before, but-"

"But they're the same?" Kabuto spoke like a snake as he rubbed his hand through his hair "As I thought, everyone in that book is a name associated with just one of the sexes correct? Meaning that at the very least, Orochimaru-sama wrote the male names in one and the female names in another whenever he combined DNA."

"Wait, is this that half-truth you were talking about?"

"Correct, yet you also confirmed an interesting tidbit. I would have assumed you would have saw a bunch of names with equal signs?"

Anko raised an eyebrow as she went through all the pages "I don't...Wait here's a name...And here...And finally...The last page…"

"So that's it huh? Orochimaru-sama gave names to the clones who lived and didn't for the ones who were failures. I figured that's how you got the information regarding the Fifth. After all, one of the clone names is Minato is it not?"

"W-Wait, you mean?" Jiraiya went wide-eyed as he Kabuto, a snake-like grin on his face as he spoke.

"I'm surprised you didn't figure it out from my speech, that Minato Namikaze, your dear Fourth Hokage, was just a 'child' Orochimaru-sama created by combining two different strands of DNA together."

"T-That's…"

"Well, you at least have one of the names. Considering how strong Minato was, I imagine both of his 'parents' were quite the interesting pair. Well, that's all I have to say for now. Thank you for that little experiment and that knowledge; I appreciate it."

"Kabuto! Wait!" yet before Jiraiya could move, Kabuto threw down a ball as a flash of light exploded, and then he was gone, leaving the two alone. "Dammit!"

Jiraiya kicked the ground as he gritted his teeth, frustrated by learning so much yet feeling like he learned so little. Anko however, just stared at the book as she sighed "Well, we know what Orochimaru was up to back then."

"Yeah, we also know we have to get that other book."

"Hm? Any reason why? Other than for information?"

"Isn't it obvious? Finding out who's blood is technically in Naruto will be key."

"I guess, though, I feel like you also want it to see just who the bastard mixed the DNA with."

"Well, yeah, I am curious. But still, at least we know who was technically one of Minato's 'parents' in a way."

"Yeah…" Anko looked down at the page as she spoke with determination. "We know that Naruto Uzumaki's so-called 'grandmother' is the legendary sannin Tsunade."


	13. Konoha Recovery Arc Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Epilogue of the First Arc, everything comes together as we head into the final stretch before Naruto's public ceremony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the final chapter before we begin Naruto's public ceremony and he is announced to the entire village! Quite a bit of political dealings happen in this story, along with looks into some of the inner workings. Speaking of, as you all know I have plans for a variety of couples and one of them is indeed a F/F.
> 
> I have plans for other F/F and maybe M/M(Though I honestly can't think of a good scenario for a M/M right now in the current story) but was wondering if anyone hated them? Personally, I ship people regardless of gender, especially since I enjoy exploring the political ramifications.
> 
> I just mention that because of some subject matter in this chapter since I tried to be realistic of the times.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and as always feel free to review!

The moonlight illuminated the top of the Hokage Tower as the Hokage, drenched in his cloak as his yellow hair shone brightly under the light, stood arms crossed, his eyes closed. He was waiting, waiting for the person who summoned him to this location.

He had dismissed the ANBU so he would be alone for this meeting, which for anyone else would be dangerous; yet it was of no concern for him, despite the person he was meeting with.

After a few moments, footsteps could be heard behind him as a pale white figure appeared behind him, his almost reptilian eyes entirely on the Hokage as he spoke: "I'm glad to see you still value me enough to honor an audience with me, Hokage-sama."

The hissing in the voice could clearly be heard as the Hokage turned around and met eyes with the figure, not scared in the slightest by the figure in front of him "Never knew you were one for formalities."

"Oh, I'm usually not, especially with one of my former experiments." The figure gave a low chuckle as he stuffed his hands into his pockets "I wanted to have this last meeting with you since it appears my time is running out."

"Hm? Does that mean your body-"

"Oh no nothing like that, you would already be dead if that was the case." The Hokage tensed up some, causing the pale figure to laugh. "Always the cautious one, eh Minato?"

The Hokage, identified as Minato Namikaze just glared as he spoke: "I learned from the best, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru gave another low evil laugh, his snake tongue licking his lips as he continued "Well perhaps that is true, though you chose to believe in Jiraiya's teachings more than mine sadly. Well, in any case, I merely meant that Sarutobi-sensei seems to have found out about my little experiments."

"I see, so that's what you meant."

"Yes, quite. Not that it's cause for much concern of course, ever since you became the Fourth Hokage, I've lost all respect for this sorry excuse of a village."

"Well, losing out on such an important position to one of your test subjects must be a hard pill to swallow." Orochimaru let out a small his, yet his smile didn't leave his face.

"On the contrary, it just proved that this village is nearing its end. After all, you know of my experiments, yet you keep a blind eye out of respect for me."

"It's not because of respect; it's because…"

"Hm? Because of what? Do you secretly miss the times I would poke and prod at your body? The times I would rip out your veins to study them and then surgically place them back in? The times where I would break your bones over and over again, just to see if you had your 'mothers' healing prowess?"

"Of course not, nobody would miss the hell you put me through."

"Yet I do much worse to my other subjects, and you don't even blink, instead of focusing on expanding other parts of the village and also slowly trying to push the Uchiha clan out of power correct? After all, it would be a problem if they usurped your control."

"..."

"Well, I suppose you do it in the name of love correct? After all, I wonder what would happen to poor Kushina if you tried to stop me?"Minato gripped his hands as they turned red, making Orochimaru give a small laugh of pleasure from seeing the control he had over the Hokage. "Speaking of little Kushina, I heard she's now pregnant."

"...Yeah…"

"That's rather interesting, the fact that you, a human created through science, have working sexual organs is quite interesting. That type of information will be quite good to have for my future research."

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious? The goal of immortality can be achieved through multiple ways, such as creating clones and then force breeding them to make even stronger bodies for me to take over."

"That's…"

"After all, I have no desire for trivial matters such as love and pleasure; so having a child of my own is out of the question, especially since I can't gain any new powers from them. In fact, your child might be my first test subject on the matter." Before Orochimaru could blink, Minato suddenly appeared in front of him; a kunai held up to his neck.

"Stay the hell away from my child…" Minato glared a gaze of death towards Orochimaru, who merely chuckled at the visual.

"So you value this child enough to threaten me, and bring potential harm to little Kushina? Quite interesting indeed, I never knew you had such fatherly instincts. You certainly didn't pick that up from either of your 'parents' now did you?"

"Tch, I don't even know who they are, or if you can even call them my parents. After all, you just took some of their DNA and combined it to create me."

"Oh? I'm surprised you don't know them, especially since one of them is much closer than you may think."

"What do you-"

"Regardless, your lineage will eventually be mine. It might even be interesting to wait and see if your child has working sexual organs as well, and if so, I may just steal your future grandchild to experiment on. After all, if you continue to try to offer this pitiful resistance...You may get bitten." Before Minato could respond, he felt a sudden pain course through his body as he fell to his knees, holding his shoulder, blood trickling down from it as a snake had suddenly appeared and bit him.

The snake slithered over to Orochimaru and climbed up his pants leg and into his sleeve, the sound of chuckling could be heard as Orochimaru looked down.

"Just a fair warning, Hokage-sama." Orochimaru turned and started to walk away, leaving the Fourth Hokage on his knees, as the sound of an evil chuckle could be heard filling the night sky.

* * *

_Present Day_

"So, Kizashi huh?" Naruto leaned back in his chair as he looked at the two men in front of him, Kakashi and Kizashi, who had just returned from a meeting with each other with Kakashi offering for Kizashi to join Naruto's council.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Kizashi stood straight and did a bow as he spoke: "While I am retired from active duty if Kakashi wishes for me to join the council, then I have no objections."

"I see...Kakashi, what's your reasoning for Kizashi?" Naruto looked over at Kakashi, who casually spoke as he placed his hands in his pockets.

"If you want the truth, it's because of two things. The first is that we're short on manpower right now thanks to the invasion, and therefore we can't risk having any other jonin become a part of your council, effectively limiting them from taking on missions. Kizashi, however, isn't in active duty, so we won't be losing any active manpower."

"That makes sense but…" Naruto opened up a folder on his desk as he spoke: "It says here that Kizashi never made it past the Genin rank."

"That's officially what it says; however that's not the whole truth."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, how about you explain it, Agent Lion?"

"Huh, Agent Lion?" Kizashi nodded as he looked at Naruto and spoke.

"You see, I'm a former member of the ANBU, having served for three years. I was apart of the Hokage Protection Unit, and was assigned to monitor the Fourth Hokage."

"W-Wait, you watched over my dad!?" Kizashi nodded, making Naruto jaw drop as he practically bounced out of his chair.

"That's correct, though I had to retire just a year after I was assigned to monitor the Fourth due to an injury I suffered."

"Hm? What kind of injury?" Kizashi opened his mouth to speak yet closed it right afterward as he looked over at Kakashi, who just gave a nod for him to continue.

"I suffered an injury to my leg thanks to a piece of debris falling onto it during the Kyuubi attack…" Naruto went wide-eyed as he stared at Kizashi, a sense of guilt filling him as he sunk back in his chair.

"I-I see…" Naruto gulped as his eyes darted around, not knowing how to react since he knew that he was technically the reason that the Kyuubi escaped and attacked the village.

Seeing how things could get worse if Naruto continued on his current thought train, Kakashi injected himself into the conversation "It should be noted that Kizashi was asked to be the Fourth Hokage."

Snapping his attention to Kakashi, Naruto tilted his head as he asked Kizashi "R-Really?"

"Yeah, I actually was. The elders came up to me and questioned whether or not I was interested in the role of Hokage, though I turned them down. Not long after, Sarutobi-sama named Minato Hokage, and then Minato named me to his personal security team."

"Really? Were you good friends with my dad?"

"Heh, something like that. During our off time, we often got together with some of the others and went drinking and played Mahjong. Though we always avoided drinking when we were at Minato's house since Kushina didn't like it."

"Kushina...My mom...W-What was she like?" Naruto's face was full of questions as he looked at Kizashi, his mind bouncing from one question to another. Kizashi though just smiled, knowing how much it must have meant to Naruto hear this.

"Kushina was like a rose, she was pretty to look at, but unless you knew what you were doing, she would hurt you if you got close. She had a temper, to say the least, but she also had a good heart, and it was obvious she and Minato were in love with each other. Whenever she and Minato came over, she would chat with Mebuki the entire time about things such as love all the way to shopping. I still remember Kushina's face when she found out Mebuki was pregnant with Sakura, she was so happy. When Kushina became pregnant a few months later, I often joked to Minato that I'm the reason he was able to convince her to-" Realizing that the joke he was about to say was inappropriate for the moment, Kizashi quieted down.

Naruto barely noticed though as he leaned back in his chair with a smile "Wow...Mom sounds like a really good person, and it sounds like her and dad really loved each other! I wish I could have met them, at least once."

Naruto had a sad glint in his eye, though his smile stayed on his face as he looked up towards the ceiling, memories of what if filling his mind as Kizashi nodded "Yeah, she sure was. She's also the only person I've ever met with hair as red as hers."

Breaking out of his trance as he heard the comment, Naruto looked at Kizashi and spoke "Huh? Did you say red hair?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, I guess it is pretty uncommon around here."

"D-Did she also have blue eyes? A-And was her hair down to her right above her chest? A-Also did Dad have hair similar to mine?"

"Huh? Yeah, that's all true." Naruto was taken back some as he stared at Kizashi, questions running through his mind "Is everything alright?"

"I-It's just...The other day, the night before the Old Man's private funeral, I had a dream about my Mom and Dad and-" Naruto explained to Kizashi how they looked and acted, from how they sounded to even the tone they used with him.

"I see...Well, that sounds almost exactly like Minato and Kushina; nothing sounds off."

"R-Really? But I've never seen my parents before, how could they just come to me?" Naruto was confused about the entire thing, yet Kizashi gave a soft smile as he spoke.

"Well, my sensei once told me that dreams can sometimes be a glimpse of a time that was avoided. Whether it was a what could have happened because disaster struck, or what could have happened if disaster never struck. To me, it sounds like your dreams allowed you to have a glimpse of a life where the Kyuubi never attacked."

"Really? I wonder why?"

"Well, sensei also said it's to make us realize that even though things could be better or worse, we can't let our lives be influenced by what-ifs, especially if the what if was out of our control." Naruto seemed to think for a moment before he nodded, understand what Kizashi was saying.

"Right, thanks for that Kizashi."

"Anytime." Silence followed for a few moments as Kizashi coughed into his hand "A-Anyway Hokage-sama if you will have me; I will gladly serve on your council!"

Naruto looked at Kizashi for a moment before his eyes darted over to Kakashi who just nodded in approval. After thinking for a moment, Naruto nodded "Well, not only are you a former ANBU but you were even asked to be Hokage yourself. Personally, I don't know if I could have a better council member. Kizashi Haruno, I'll gladly accept you."

"Thank you Hokage-sama!" Kizashi straightened and bowed, causing Naruto to blush in embarrassment.

"Man, that takes a lot to get used to...A-Anyway, feel free to call me Naruto if you want. Also, if you ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask."

"Thank you, Naruto!" Kizashi gave another bow, but after a moment he spoke in a more cautious tone "Well, I actually do…"

"Hm? Do what?" Naruto asked in a questioning tone, with even Kakashi looking at him in surprise.

"I-It's...Well, my wife told me not to bother you with this, but it's connected to you in a way. It has to do with Sakura."

"Ah, I see. Well, she's my friend and former teammate, so I'm willing to listen." Kizashi nodded as he tried to find the right words as he spoke.

"My wife told me a few days ago that she was going through Sakura's old journals, and she found this." Kizashi took out a few pieces of papers and handed them to Naruto.

"What's this?"

"J-Just read them; It's hard to explain without the context." Naruto began reading over the papers, taking in each line as his expression went from amusement to confusion to shock, to even disbelief. Changing as he read each individual line of the papers.

After reading the last page, Naruto just placed the papers down as he didn't know what to think "S-Sakura wrote all of these?"

"Yeah, no doubt that her handwriting from back in the day. We would just write it off as nothing, but seeing how she acted first around Sasuke and then you; along with what Sakura said about what happened the other day, we believe this to still be true."

"W-Wow, that's unexpected…" Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he looked between the two of them as he spoke.

"Mind sharing what's up?" Naruto nodded as he handed the papers over to Kakashi, who read over them as even he seemed surprised as he lowered the papers back down to the desk "I see, that is quite the issue."

Kizashi nodded as he spoke "Me and Mebuki support her of course, it's her life after all. It's just that we don't know how to get her to admit her true feelings and to stop putting up these fake walls around herself."

"Well, we actually have a bigger problem." Kakashi looked at Kizashi and spoke, caution in his voice.

"W-What do you mean?" Kakashi looked back at Naruto as he pointed at a folder.

"Naruto, read the marriage law inside of that folder there." Naruto gave a questioning look but nodded as he opened the folder and pulled out a piece of paper and read out the section of marriages in the village.

"In the village of Konoha, marriage is generally decided upon by each clan; however, a few rules are in place. Firstly, marriage between brother's and sisters, cousins, Uncles and Nieces, and Aunts and Nephews are allowed though can be restricted by the clan unless ordered otherwise. However, marriages between an individual and their parents, grandparents, and onward are forbidden. This is so clans can keep pure bloodlines , but also so the offspring aren't deformed by a direct jutsu link between parent and child."

"Secondly, marriage between Shinobi and Civilians are generally discouraged but ultimately are left up to the clan to decide unless directly ordered otherwise. Civilians should be encouraged to have multiple children with other Civilians so to increase the amount of hands for field work and hard labor, while Shinobi should be encouraged to have children with other Shinobi, though on a smaller scale. This is to make sure the offspring gain genetics from both parents that impact their jutsu, but also Shinobi should have no more than three children since the jutsu in each subsequent child is less and less."

"Thirdly, harem marriages are not allowed unless ordered under the Clan Restoration Act, known as the CRA. This is because it limits other males from finding a suitable partner to have children with and thus have a child with both of their parents being Shinobi. Females are under no circumstances allowed to have multiple partners; instead, should they be the last of their clan, they will continue to have children with one man until they produce a male, who will then have the CRA put into effect on him. Do note that if the CRA is authorized, then any female who is selected must participate, and failure to produce children will result in monetary punishment."

"Finally, marriages between couples of the same sex are forbidden unless strictly ordered by the Hokage. This is because couples of the same sex cannot bear children who will grow into working hands or shinobi, and therefore they are wasting a marriage. Couples may have relationships with someone of the same sex, but will be required to marry someone of the opposite sex and bear their children."

Silence filled the room after Naruto finished reading the document as he placed it down, with Kizashi sighing as he looked at Kakashi "I see what you mean."

Kakashi nodded as he spoke, "Yeah, it's a tricky situation."

Naruto ran a hand over his chin as he chimed in "Well I can just change this, can't I? I mean it seems like a simple signature will do."

"Well, if this were any other thing, that would be true...However, changing this would make the other villages view us in a questioning light, and may view us as having some kind of scheme in the works. After all, none of the villages allow it, so if you were to change it; it has to be not only a big deal but also, as much as I hate to admit, a big stunt."

"Hm? Stunt?"

"Yeah, like with a big procedural and everything...Such as right before a wedding." Kakashi looked over at Kizashi, who sighed and nodded.

"I certainly don't want Sakura to be the focal point since it could bring unwanted attempts on her life. Perhaps if we could get another village or two also to make a change?"

"The problem is who though. The only one that comes to mind is Suna; all of the others would be hard to change their minds." Kakashi spoke with caution, none of the hidden villages allowed it due to the fact that war was constant, and bodies were needed; children had to be produced.

As Naruto tried to come up with something, Dragon suddenly appeared in the back of the room "Hokage-sama!"

"Hm? What's up?"

"Lord! We have just received a report from the intelligence office! We can now confirm that Kirigakure had named a new Mizukage!"

Naruto looked at Dragon for a moment before he spoke "A new Mizukage?"

Kakashi nodded as he spoke "So it's true huh? I heard the rumors, but I wasn't sure."

"Mizukage huh…?" Naruto closed his eyes for a moment before opening them with an idea "Kakashi-sensei!"

"Hm?"

"Get me a pen and paper! I have an idea!"

* * *

_A Few Days Later_

"Alright, all of your papers are signed; Kizashi Haruno, congratulations on your promotion to Jonin." Naruto placed the paper inside of a folder as Kizashi gave a bow towards him, a smile on his face.

"Thank you Hokage-sama; I will do my best to honor your decision on the matter!" Naruto had decided to promote Kizashi to Jonin since he was now serving on his council, which wasn't really that controversial of a move given his history as an ANBU.

Naruto had spent the past few days going over the battle reports that had been sent to him from the Sunagakure council, and it was thanks to the reports that he had a clearer picture on what had happened. He also acquired the medical reports on Neji and Tenten, and while Tenten had regained consciousness, Neji was still in a coma and was being monitored twenty-four seven.

He had also learned that two others had been left behind to monitor them. Shino had been left behind with Tenten since his bugs can combat the poison in case it had any side effects, while Lee had been left behind with Neji since he specifically requested so.

All in all, Team Guy suffered the most with Tenten and Neji taking the most damage. Naruto didn't blame Guy, of course, battles happen, and injuries are a foregone conclusion, yet he couldn't help but wonder why they suffered the most. It would be a discussion he would have to hold once Tenten and Neji had recovered, whenever that would be.

Speaking of discussions, he also still needed to meet with Kurenai to discuss why she acted so strangely during his private ceremony when Yakumo and her uncle had brought up the Third Hokage and what had apparently happened to their family. The reports were scarce on the matter, more than likely most of the official business on the matter was settled behind closed doors.

Still, it would be better to discuss that once he got all of the international matters out of the way first; especially since it seemed the Jonin were close to having the dates set for his public ceremony. Most of the things he would have to discuss would come after he was announced to the public as the Fifth Hokage.

Naruto raised his hand to shake Kizashi's when suddenly the door to the room opened as Kakashi calmly walked in, his eye immediately going towards Naruto as he spoke: "Naruto, you have a visitor."

"Huh? Is it Sakura or Ino again?" Naruto spoke with a bit of exhaustion on his voice, though Kakashi merely shook his head.

"No, it's Jiraiya-sama."

"Huh? Sensei's back?" Naruto perked up when he heard the news, Jiraiya had suddenly vanished a few days ago without telling Naruto, and he hadn't heard anything since then. Not that he minded, he knew Jiraiya was strong enough to take care of himself. Still, he was happy to hear that he had finally returned.

"Yeah, and he has something rather important to tell you...Something that should be heard by you and only you." Kakashi looked over to Kizashi, who immediately understood what Kakashi meant as he nodded and did a quick bow towards Naruto before he began walking towards the door "If you need us, we'll be in the Council Room."

Naruto just did a small head nod, a bit confused as Kakashi and Kizashi quickly left the room. Not long after they did so, the door opened as Jiraiya walked in, a mix of emotions plastered on his face as he closed the door behind him. "It's nice to see you again sensei, though maybe next time give me a heads up?"

Naruto laughed a little as he spoke, yet Jiraiya's expression did not change "Naruto, seal off the room."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Have the ANBU seal it off as they did back when I told you about your parents and the like, what I'm about to say isn't something to take lightly." Naruto could hear the seriousness in his voice, making him straighten up and nod.

"Alright, sure." Without even calling for them, the room became as it did back when Naruto learned of his parents as darkness overtook it except for the positions where Naruto and Jiraiya were. Once the area was fully secured, Jiraiya took a deep breath as he walked over to Naruto.

"The reason I left as suddenly as I did the other day is because Anko Mitarashi suddenly came to me and told me that she discovered a hideout that was used by Orochimaru. That alone got my attention, but then she told me that she also uncovered information that was related to you."

"Huh? To me?"

"Truthfully, she didn't fully understand what the information meant. She had a guess that turned out to be partially true, but neither of us could have predicted what we found out. Now I want to stress that it's possible everything we found out was a lie and another truth is out there, but I have a bad feeling that what we learned is true."

"I-I see, what is it then? What is this truth or whatever you found out that concerns Orochimaru and also me?"

"..." Jiraiya tried to find the right words to use as he took a deep breath "Concerning your mother and your father, I'm sure you learned that neither of them had parents right? Kushina's parents were killed when she was young, and Minato grew up as an orphan."

"Yeah, I know that much now. What about it?"

"Well...Anko showed me a notebook that had various female names written inside, hundreds I'm sure. Of those few hundred names, about five or six of them had another name written beside of them with an equal sign separating them. One of those names that were written was your father's name, Minato Namikaze."

"H-Huh? Why was dad's name written in there? Well, I guess I better start by asking what the names of the others meant in the first place."

"Honestly, at first Anko thought it was a list of children who Orochimaru had identified as orphans and had found out their real parents. Yet the truth is much darker and more horrifying to think about. Not long after Anko showed me the book, Kabuto appeared suddenly; and he overheard that you were the Fifth Hokage."

"...I see…" Naruto gave an inward sigh but also a small nod, that meant Orochimaru surely knew by this point that he was Hokage.

"In exchange for learning that, he gave us some information that paints a dark picture. Now you know that Orochimaru used to be apart of Konoha, and this is also where he began his inhumane experiments. I always thought he had begun them later in life, yet if this information is true, he was already experimenting when he was only fifteen or sixteen years old. I can only imagine the true body count if he started that young."

"That young? How did he get around not only the old man but you as well?"

"...Orochimaru was more cautious than anyone I had ever met and was obsessed with finding immortality. I can only begin to imagine the tactics he employed to stay hidden from everyone and also kidnap people to experiment on. I mention all of this because now I know something else. I now know that Orochimaru could just use people's DNA in his experiments; he never needed to kidnap anyone."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It's because of what Kabuto told us. He told us that Orochimaru mixed strands of DNA together to create people, clones in a way. Yet he went as far as he could, combining DNA of people of the same sex to combining DNA of people directly related to each other. He was able to do this because he didn't need to kidnap people to do this...I know this for a fact because he would never have been able to kidnap Tsunade."

"Huh? Tsunade? I've heard you mention her before sensei, didn't you say that she was apart of your team when you were younger?"

"Yeah, she's one of the three legendary Sannin along with Orochimaru and me. I brought her up because Kabuto said that all of the names in that book were test subjects of Orochimaru, or at least their DNA was used. Orochimaru would have never gotten away with kidnapping or harming Tsunade, so he somehow, most likely by going to a previous battlefield, gained some of Tsunade's DNA. He then combined her DNA with someone else's...To create...Minato…"

Naruto just stared at Jiraiya with a blank expression; the words slowly registering in his head as his mouth slightly opened "W-What…?"

"It's hard to believe I know, but from what information we have...Orochimaru combined Tsunade's DNA with someone else to create your father, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze."

"T-That's…" Naruto didn't know what to say; he was at a total loss for words. He had just started learning just the smallest things about his parents, and now this?

"I...Wasn't going to tell you, at least I didn't want to until I knew the full truth. But I decided you had a right to know, even if Kabuto wasn't telling the truth. I don't know if we can trust him, but the evidence is there." Naruto just slowly nodded as his head hit the back of his chair, thoughts running through his head at a thousand miles per second. "Anko took the book with her, so you can look at it whenever you're ready."

"O-Ok…" Naruto sounded at a loss for words, making Jiraiya feel guilty on the inside as he turned and walked towards the door.

"I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day; let you collect your thoughts." Naruto didn't say anything as Jiraiya left the room, leaving the young Hokage confused as he closed his eyes and muttered to himself as a single tear ran down his face.

"Just how much do I not know about my own parents…?"

* * *

_The Next Day_

Naruto went through the rest of the day in a daze, not really knowing what to think or do as he sat and thought about what he had found out. By the time that night finally came, Naruto had collected himself enough to trudge home and fall asleep.

He had decided not to ask for the book from Anko, at least not yet. He knew he would have to eventually, but he wanted to wait until he had some good free time to do so.

Today would not be the day because of that, Naruto was currently waiting just outside of the village gates, not wearing anything but his father's clothes but without the cloak so not to give anything away. Kakashi had accompanied him while Kizashi had stayed back at the tower to help with some of the paperwork Naruto had.

Guy and Kurenai would be back in a few minutes, and the jonin had gathered all of the family members of the prisoners to be present. They had been told the Hokage had a surprise for them, and so they all waited with confusion but also intrigue.

The area had been blocked off to the public, but nobody was told that. A few of the ANBU also had disguised and mixed themselves into the crowd to look like random passersby, so no one would question why Naruto was present if they saw him.

Naruto held a breath in as he looked around, a bit excited as he couldn't wait for everyone to see their family after so long. Kakashi looked down at him as he spoke: "You seem a bit more happy since we got here."

"Ah well...It's helped take my mind off a few things. Also, I'm excited to see everyone see their old family members! I mean, being able to see your family again after so long has to be a great feeling." Naruto had a sad smile on his face as he looked on, Kakashi giving a small nod.

"You're not alone you know, I don't have any family either. I know it can be hard; especially since you didn't have any family growing up. But just know that I'm always here if you need me, not only as a council member and sensei, but as a friend as well."

Naruto looked at Kakashi in surprise, not used to hearing such a genuine things from him; but a smile slowly morphed onto his face as he nodded. "Thanks, Kakashi…"

Kakashi seemed to smile as he nodded, the two of them sharing a friendly moment together when all of a sudden the gates began to open as everybody's attention turned towards them.

Naruto swallowed as he watched over everyone as the gates fully opened; revealing Guy and Kurenai walking through with a smaller old man in between them. Smiles on their faces as they walked forward, the crowd all watching them step forward, wondering what was going on.

However, the sound of marching feet could be heard, and soon Hinata and Kiba walked into the village with almost a hundred people marching behind them, all of them varying in ages and appearance as the crowd stayed silent for a few more moments as the new arrivals continued to march in.

Until…

"D-Daddy!" The crowd looked as a young woman ran out from the crowd with tears streaming down her face as one of the people who had marched in looked at the woman and gave a small smile.

"Kiri…" The old man opened his arms as the woman practically tackled him as she hugged him as tight as she could, tears streaming down her face as the man stroked her hair gently. "It's been a few years."

"D-Daddy! I-I missed you so much! A-After Mom died...I...I…" The woman couldn't control herself as she bawled into the man's arms as he kept stroking her hair, a small, sad smile plastered onto his face.

The crowd watched in awe until more shouts could be heard "F-Father!"

"Mother! I-Is that really you!?"

"Oh my...Naki!" People began yelling out as the entire crowd soon began running towards people and enveloping them in hugs as they cried tears of joy. Parents and children were reunited, Lovers were together once again, siblings who hadn't seen each other in years got together.

It was a scene of pure love.

Not every prisoner had a loved one, of course, some of them were so old they had no living family left; while others were orphans, to begin with. Yet they themselves couldn't help but smile, after all; almost all of the prisoners knew each other from years of being held in isolation. So to see their friends be with their families was something they couldn't help but smile and shed a few tears of their own.

Then even more incredible moments could be seen, some of the prisoners who didn't have a family who pulled in by a prisoner who did have a family, as they introduced them. Some were best friends, some were mentors, and some were even lovers they had made while imprisoned.

To Naruto, who had seen his fair share of death and hate directed towards him, it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen in his life. He couldn't help but just smile as he rubbed his eyes, amazed by the scene before him.

He suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder however from Kakashi who spoke up "The medical team is ready if you want to have them checked out."

"A-Ah right...Yeah, have all of them checked by the medical team. After that, go ahead and invite them to Lightning Burger; Dragon informed me that they'd offering free meals to the prisoners and their families."

"Were they expecting this many? That's a lot of food."

"I mean, they wouldn't offer if they were unsure haha." Naruto gave a small laugh as Kakashi just nodded, before looking ahead as Guy walked over to him.

He stopped in front of Kakashi and raised a hand as he laughed "Might Guy reporting for duty! We had no problems on our way back, and the prisoners seem to be in alright shape. Also, the Head Councilman wishes to speak to Hokage-sama to discuss the surrender agreement."

Though Naruto was right there, Guy pretends to be talking to Kakashi so not to alert anyone. Kakashi just nodded as he spoke, "Alright, I'll inform him right away."

Guy nodded as he turned to Naruto and gave a fake friendly wave before he walked on, leaving the two alone.

"Well, should we head on?" Kakashi looked down at Naruto who just gave a nod.

"Yeah…" Naruto looked around before whispering "Get my cloak ready."

Kakashi just nodded as the two of them backed up some before vanishing, leaving the prisoners and their families as they continued to hug and be happy with each other once again.

* * *

Naruto quickly walked up the stairs of the Hokage Tower as he flung his cloak on, Kakashi right behind him as the meeting to finally settle the surrender agreement was finally here once and for all. With the builders already working in Konoha, gathering the monetary payments for them was a must.

When they arrived at the door that lead to the office, Kizashi and the old woman from before were already there. While Kizashi was there to assist since unlike the first time, Naruto now had a council with him, the old woman was there to write up the new agreement as it was talked about.

Kizashi and the woman gave a bow towards Naruto as he approached, causing him to just do a head nod. "Is anyone with him?"

Naruto spoke to Kizashi, who just shook his head "No, it's just him and nobody else. Not even the new Kazekage accompanied him."

"I see…" Naruto was a bit disappointed by that, to be honest. He was hoping that Gaara would come so he could see if he really was the changed man that he had heard about, though it seemed it would be a while before he would find that out.

Not saying anything else, the woman reached over and pushed open the door, revealing the old man from Sunagakure sitting in a chair across from Naruto's desk. Naruto took one more deep breath as he walked in with the others behind him, as he crossed over to the other side and sat down in his chair, Kakashi and Kizashi both adjourning each side of him.

After a moment, Naruto cleared his throat as he spoke: "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr…?"

"Yuki. I'm the Head Councilman of the Sunagakure Council, and I have been given full authority from Kazekage-sama to conduct this meeting with you, Hokage-sama." Yuki pushed himself up and did a bow towards Naruto before sitting back down.

"Right, you're here because Sunagakure wishes to renegotiate the surrender agreement that I signed with your delegates?"

"Well, parts of it, some parts like the prisoner swap and training agreement we obviously agree to. It's more along we wish to discuss with you the part about the Food and Water supply, along with the requested Monetary you asked. While we do understand you are also assisting us with the Tax Breaks, we do have some concerns."

"I see, well I'm willing to listen to them." Yuki nodded as he pulled out a document from his pocket and opened it as he began reading certain sections of it.

"I would like to first address the main thing that the council and even the Kazekage are against, with that being the food and water request. While we did initially offer Food and Water, I'm afraid that rations are worse than they were before, so we would like to redact that if possible. I mean no offense when I say this Hokage-sama, but we are a desert village while a lavish forest surrounds your village, surely you can produce food faster than we can supply it?"

Naruto didn't say anything for a moment as he nodded, taking in that it was a rather good point that Yuki just made. In retrospect, he might have been asking for too much when he negotiated that part, and he had also been in office for merely a few hours at that point. Naruto looked up at Kakashi as he spoke: "What do you think Kakashi?"

Kakashi didn't move his gaze from Yuki as he replied "Well, he does make a good point that it would be faster to focus on having the civilians grow crops and harvest them than wait for Suna to get enough rations to give to us. Plus with all the animals and plants that naturally grow, having a few hunters go outside of the walls isn't a bad idea."

"I see, then-"

"However." Kakashi interrupted Naruto as he continued on "This is still a surrender agreement, so it would still be wise to have them offer something else in return."

"Something else?"

"About that…" Yuki interjected back into the conversation "We do wish to offer a compromise on the issue. While we may not be able to provide food and water, the Kazekage gave me permission to offer you Poison and Puppet training."

"Poison and Puppet Training?"

"Indeed, two things Suna specializes in. We will give you access to all of our poisons along with sending over Shinobi who can train your academy students, and maybe even some of your own ninja, in using puppets. In fact, with the training agreement that we signed off on, we can have Kankuro lead the training since he's one of the best in that regard."

"Hm, that would be handy I guess." Naruto again looked at Kakashi as he spoke up "Sound fair to you?"

Kakashi nodded as he replied, "It's a fair compromise, as it does help our military expand on its options to attack with."

"Excellent, then do we agree on this Hokage-sama?" Yuki looked at Naruto with waiting eyes, and after thinking on it for a moment, Naruto nodded.

"Yeah we can do that, sounds good to me." Naruto smiled at Yuki, causing the old man to smile back as the old woman; who had sat down in the corner, wrote it down in the new surrender agreement.

"I'm glad to see you are reasonable at such a young age Hokage-sama. I do hope that extends to the next point that we wish to discuss, and that is the tradeoff of having tax breaks in exchange for us paying your builders."

"Yes, that is correct."

"Hm...Money wise we are also struggling at this point, and even with the tax breaks that you offered to us; I don't know if it will be enough for us to be able to pay off your builders. However, we do have a counteroffer."

"Alright, what is it?" Yuki pulled out another document from his pocket as he opened it up and read off of it.

"If you are willing to keep the tax breaks part, as well as add in a supply of leather, we can have enough room with our funds to pay for the builders for the time being."

"Leather?"

"Indeed, it's rather easy to acquire around here but is quite expensive to import into our own village. We use it for things such as clothing and furniture, and it would be a huge help to be able to acquire it."

Naruto began to think on the matter, but it now Kizashi's turn to speak as he eyed Yuki "Leather is one of Konoha's most valuable products and brings great economic value to us, especially with how much Suna imports. Is offering you a supply of it really the only way for you pay off the builders?"

"I'm afraid so, our former Daimyo stopped issuing jobs to us, and therefore we are quite tight on funds. While our new Daimyo is trying to fix that, we are still struggling in the meantime."

"If that's the case, then I offer we add something to this Hokage-sama." Naruto looked up at Kizashi who continued "If we are to offer you the amount of leather you are asking for, then it will only be while you pay off the builders, and we can cancel it at any time should you miss a payment."

Yuki seemed a bit taken back from the sudden proposal, but knowing he had little wiggle room he slumped down some "W-Well, that seems fair…"

Kizashi nodded as he looked down at Naruto, who seemed to agree "Very well, if that is alright with you Mr Yuki, then I can agree to that."

"Y-Yes, that is acceptable Hokage-sama." The sound of the Old Woman writing could be heard as Yuki straightened himself out some "Very well then, those are the main things I wanted to discuss, is there anything you would like to add Hokage-sama?"

Naruto was about to say no when all of a sudden an idea hit him; this would actually be the perfect time to maybe bring this up and start talking about it. It would take the help of at least two other villages to make it legit, so better now than later. "Actually, I do have something."

"Hm? Well, I'm willing to listen Hokage-sama."

"Yuki, let me ask you a question." Naruto glanced up at Kizashi before he continued "Do you mind telling me the marriage laws of Suna?"

* * *

_Unknown Location_

The sound of mice running across the floor could be heard as a silver-haired man with glasses quietly walked down the hallway, his movements slow as he came upon a door. Not even taking the time to knock, the man opened the door to reveal a small room with a bed in the middle of it, with another man sitting upright in it.

The man in the bed eyed the silver hair man as a small smile came upon his face "Ah Kabuto, I presume you took care of those pesky intruders?"

Kabuto smirked as he closed the door behind him and nodded "Of course, I did exactly as you asked Orochimaru-sama."

The man in the bed, identified as Orochimaru, gave a small laugh, ignoring the pain in his arms "Of course you did, you always do everything I ask of you Kabuto. I'm also sure you know nothing of the information that is held there?"

Kabuto gave a small laugh of his own as he walked over to beside of Orochimaru's bed as he began preparing the medicine on it "Well I didn't look at it if that's what you're asking."

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't dare defy me Kabuto. However, why do I have the feeling you know the information that was held there? Perhaps those little intruders told you in exchange for information?"

"Well, they didn't directly tell me. However, I did learn something rather interesting from them."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"It seems Konoha has named Naruto Uzumaki as their Fifth Hokage." Orochimaru let out a small chuckle as he leaned back some.

"Naruto Uzumaki hm? What a rather interesting choice. I would have never guessed that Little Minato's child would be Hokage at such a young age, though he inherited both his fathers and mothers bloodlines, so I can see how the fools would make such a decision."

"Little Minato? So you knew the Fourth Hokage personally?"

"Well, you can say that." Orochimaru snake-like tongue licked his lips as continued "He was the perfect creation, created from two powerful bloods. The fact that he was able to have children aided my research, and allowed me to create more clones without failure."

"Oh yes, then you promptly had them kill each other to determine the strongest one. What do you call them now, the Sound Four was it?"

"Oh that's what they go by, but to me, I call them my little pets. All of them were created with a variety of DNA mixes, and the research I gathered from Minato made them possible."

"Just out of curiosity, didn't you mention one of them having Kushina's DNA?" Orochimaru looked over at Kabuto as he smirked.

"Quite the perceptive one. However, that isn't entirely true. Little Kushina for some reason never had DNA that turned out well, which makes her having Minato's child all the more interesting. No, I instead used her sisters DNA."

"Sister?"

"Of course, Little Lupis as she was called. They never knew each other since they were separated quite young, yet her sister had DNA much more compatible to use. Especially when I combined her DNA with my own."

Kabuto began placing the medicine inside of a syringe as he spoke: "So, that girl was created through a mix of your blood and an Uzumaki's blood?"

"Correct, her red hair is proof of that. Little Tayuya as she is called, she's quite an interesting experiment. After all, she's the only one I could call my daughter." Orochimaru let out a bitter laugh as Kabuto took the syringe and began moving it towards Orochimaru's arms; the sound of mice was the only thing that could be heard over the evil laugh.

* * *

_Hokage Tower_

"I see, so that's the situation you find yourself in at the moment." Yuki let out a sigh as he spoke, as both Naruto and Kizashi nodded in the affirmative. "Well, this one is out of my hands I'm afraid to say. You're gonna have to meet with the Kazekage personally to take care of this."

"I see, so it's that big of a deal huh?"

"Indeed, however; I do believe I have something that can make the negotiations on the matter easier. I propose that each of us have ambassadors with each other."

"Huh? Ambassadors?" Yuki nodded as he began to explain.

"If we have Ambassadors, then not only can we communicate more easily, but they can also conduct official business and can make things such as trade agreements much easier in the future. I believe Baki would be a perfect ambassador to have over here. Of course, I would need to confirm it with the Kazekage and Baki himself, but I believe it would be a great fit."

"I see...It might take some time for us to find someone to have as an ambassador over in Suna, but I believe we can find one rather quickly."

"Of course, feel free to send one over as soon as you can, we will eagerly await their arrival." Naruto nodded as silence came over them for a few more moments as Yuki coughed into his hand "Well if that is everything then I'm ready to sign the agreement and bring it back to the Kazekage."

"Ah right…" Naruto looked over to the old woman who nodded and brought the document over as Naruto and Yuki both signed off on it, the both of them hoping this would be the final agreement they would have to discuss with each other for a while, not counting any potential alliance agreements.

"Well then, I'll send this off to the Kazekage and begin my trip back to Suna. Thank you for your time Hokage-sama." Yuki did a bow towards Naruto who gave a head nod back towards him as Yuki turned and left the room with the old woman right behind him.

Silence followed for a few moments as Naruto sighed "Well, guess I better go ahead and talk to Tazuna."

"About that…" Kakashi injected himself as he spoke, "I talked to Asuma about that, and you're going to need the Daimyo present for that discussion."

"Huh? How come?"

"It has to do with annexation, something only the Daimyo can approve of. So the best thing to do is wait until after your public ceremony since the Daimyo will be present then. I've already talked to Tazuna about it, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Ah alright."

"Also, your public ceremony has been set." Naruto tensed up some as Kakashi took a breath and spoke: "It's in two weeks, and the public will be notified of the events tomorrow."

"Two weeks huh...Two weeks until everyone knows…"

"Yeah…" The room got awkwardly quiet as Kakashi reached inside of his vest and pulled out a letter "In any case, this came for you this morning."

"Huh? A letter?"

"Yeah, and it's sealed by the Mizukage seal." Naruto perked up as he grabbed the letter out of Kakashi's hands and began reading over it, a smile coming over his face as he did so.

"Awesome! They accepted!"

"Accepted?"

"Yep! I invited them to a meeting! They haven't had allies in quite a while now, so I thought it be good to go ahead and get on their good side! Not only can we have an alliance with each other, but they can also maybe help when it comes to the big rule change!"

"Well...It's not a bad idea, though I do want you to exercise caution."

"Of course! They want the meeting next week, so I guess we better prepare for it." Naruto looked over at Kizashi as he continued "They said to have two personal bodyguards, Kizashi, do you mind watching over the office while I'm gone? I kinda want to bring Kakashi and Sensei with me."

Kizashi nodded as he smiled "Sure no problem, I don't mind at all."

Naruto smiled as he fist pumped "Ah yeah! I'll be allies with everyone before you know it!"

* * *

_Sunagakure_

"So...This is what they agreed upon." Gaara sat at his desk as he read over the surrender agreement that had just arrived from Konoha. Baki had given it to him, and after reading over it, Gara seemed pleased. "Well, this works for me."

"Very well then, I'll inform the council."

"Alright." Baki turned to leave to the council room, but before he did so Gaara spoke back up "Also...I'm sure you saw the part about you being an ambassador, what do you think of it?"

"Tch, I'm not one for stuff like that. I'm better off used for military purposes, plus I'm also a member of the council. Though if you command it, I have no choice but to go."

"Hm…" Gaara looked over at the two people in the room with them, both seemingly nervous "What do you two think?"

"Huh? O-Oh doesn't matter to me." The one to speak was Kankuro, who was still nervous around his brother. While it appeared Gaara had changed for the better, Kankuro always felt uneasy around with him.

"Hm...What about you Temari?" Gaara looked over at his sister who seemed to be lost in thought, thinking on something quite intensely. "Temari."

"H-Huh? Oh...Well…" Temari seemed to have something on her mind, something Gaara caught onto almost immediately.

"What's wrong? Don't approve of the treaty?"

"No it's not that; it's…" Temari began to think before she spoke. Did she really want to say this? After all her thoughts were only corrupted because of what she had heard right?

Well, that's what she thought at first, yet seeing the transformation in Gaara and the reasoning why intrigued her and made her think. She really wondered how Naruto made Gaara change, and it also pissed her off that this random brat could do something she never could.

Get through to Gaara.

She seemed conflicted as Gaara spoke up once more "Then what's on your mind? Don't hold it in."

"It's…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath; she had to confirm this; she needed to know what was so special about Naruto Uzumaki! "Gaara!"

"...Yes?"

"I request that you allow me to be the Ambassador to Konoha!"

* * *

_1 Week Later_

The sound of the chariot slowly moving through the woods could be heard as several jonin surrounded all sides of it, with the ANBU watching it in the shadows as it made its way towards the border of the Fire Country and Water Country, where the meeting between the Hokage and Mizukage would be held.

Inside of the chariot sat three individuals. On one side was the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki. In front of him sat the two people he chose as his personal guards who would be attending the meeting, the legendary Sannin Jiraiya and Naruto's former sensei and senior council member, Kakashi Hatake.

Naruto was nervous if he was honest with himself, he was going to be meeting with one of the five Kage's, and while he himself was now a kage, it still put a lot of pressure on him, even if the Mizukage was new just like himself.

In fact, Naruto knew next to nothing about the Fifth Mizukage. He knew they were already much more open than their predecessor, as they immediately accepted Naruto's invitation for a meeting between the two to help mend the fences of their predecessors, yet he still knew that their village would not so readily accept change, and he knew he had to be careful with his dealings.

Naruto also knew that much like himself; the Mizukage hadn't had their public ceremony yet, so Konoha wasn't able to get much information about who the new Mizukage exactly was. Of course, that worked both ways as it's highly doubtful they had anything on Naruto being the Fifth Hokage.

As the chariot continued on its journey, Naruto let out a sigh as he looked out the window, observing the trees they strolled by. "Everything alright?"

Naruto looked over at Kakashi, as he was the one to speak, as he nodded his head "Yeah, just nervous is all. I mean we don't know anything about the Mizukage, and from the reports I read, the last Mizukage wasn't liked at all and was hated by almost every major nation."

"Yeah, he ruled during a time called the "Era Of The Bloody Mist" thanks to how brutal his policies were and how the village treated outsiders and the such. If it's of any solace, you can at least take comfort in the fact that you've fought against some of the best ninja's from their village in Zabuza and Haku, so should it come to that..."

Naruto knew what Kakashi was implying as he nodded "Well, let's hope it doesn't come to such extreme measures. I've only been Hokage for two weeks; I would like to avoid a war at all costs."

"Of course, war should always be the last resort. However, you shouldn't be ready to concede anything during these discussions. Remember Naruto; you have the advantage here, they've not had any allies for years now, so they're in no position to demand during their negotiations."

"I understand that as well, however, I don't wish to demand much myself. I wanted this meeting so to create a strong bond between our two villages and hopefully, nations as well if anything I hope we can come to a peaceful agreement. I mean, we have a huge wall across our border with them, don't we?"

"Well it's actually a gate that used to be used for trade between the Fire and Water nations, however that changed during the events of the war, and ever since, Shinobi from both countries have stood guard at the gate on each side, making sure nobody from either side ever crosses over into the next country, especially since Third Hokage-sama and the Fourth Mizukage never signed a peace treaty with one another, just a ceasefire. So if you want to get technical, we're still at war with one another."

"I see, well I hope that not only can we open the gate back up to allow both travel and trade, but also officially sign the peace treaty that would end the war between us." Naruto gave one of his confidant smiles as Kakashi nodded, enjoying Naruto's enthusiasm, but also still being cautious such a thing could happen.

Silence followed after that as the carriage continued on for a few more hours, Naruto occasionally asking Kakashi and Jiraiya a question about the Water country and the Mizukage's of old, until finally the border gate could be seen coming to view.

A knock was heard on the carriage door as the only Chunin who had accompanied Naruto, Iruka, opened the door "Naruto, we're almost at the border."

"Alright, thanks Iruka!" Iruka nodded as he closed the door back as Naruto looked at the two in front of him "Well, guess it's time huh?"

"No need to worry; you've already negotiated with Suna's head councilman, this shouldn't be too different."

"But Kakashi-sensei, he wasn't one of the five Kage's..."

"That may be true, but Naruto, don't forget you are one of the five Kage's! You are on the same level as the Mizukage, so you can't show any fear. Also, I've said this before, but this especially applies to other Kage's, don't call me sensei around them, since you are now over me Naruto."

"Ah, right. I guess the same goes for you, huh sensei?" Naruto looked at Jiraiya, who nodded.

"That's right; you can't show that kind of respect to anyone Naruto. You are the Hokage, and as such you are the absolute ruler of Konoha and the second highest ranking person in the Fire Country, only under the Daimyo. Just call me by name with no sensei whatsoever, you can't under any circumstances show that kind of weakness."

"I understand, I should know this by now but...Old habits die hard I guess." Naruto sighed Kakashi and Jiraiya nodded as the chariot came to a stop "Guess it's time."

Naruto picked his hat up off of the seat and placed it onto his head as the carriage door opened and Iruka reappeared "We're here Naru-I mean, Hokage-sama."

Naruto nodded, knowing that the informalities would have to be dropped now as he stood up and walked out of the carriage, the Jounin all taking strategic positions to ensure Naruto would be watched at all times. In front of Naruto stood a large wall with a gate in the middle, with Naruto easily seeing other shinobi on the other side, as all of the opposing shinobi could be identified as shinobi of Kirigakure.

On the opposite side of the gate could also be seen another carriage, bearing the symbol of Water and Kiri on its sides, showing that the plan for the Mizukage to arrive first so to deter potential terrorists from knowing when each Kage would show, had been followed.

Kakashi and Jiraiya jumped out of the carriage behind Naruto as Kakashi spoke: "Let's go, Hokage-sama."

"Right." Naruto gulped as he began walking over to a door that was beside of the gate. The door lead to a conference room that in the past was used by the Fire and Water countries to communicate civilians who had traveled from one country to the next but ever since the war, it had been unused. It was deemed the best place to have the meeting at thanks to only being accessible from two doors, and it's small interior.

As soon as Naruto reached the door, Kakashi went in front of Naruto as Jiraiya stayed behind him as Kakashi reached out to the door "It will just be the six of us in there, you and the Mizukage, Jiraiya and I, and the Mizukage's bodyguards."

Naruto nodded as Kakashi grabbed the door handle and opened the door to the small conference room as he walked inside, with Naruto following right behind him.

* * *

As soon as Naruto entered into the small conference room, he noticed how some of the room had been prepared. On the Fire side, two flags were placed on each side of the door, one with the Fire Country symbol, and the other one with Konoha's symbol. The same was true for the opposite door of the room, though the flags on that side had the symbol of the Water country and Kiri's symbol on each of them.

The walls were solid concrete, yet wallpaper had been placed on them, making it a bit easier on the eyes. The table in the middle of the room had black tape across the middle of it, that extended to the ground, the walls, and the roof, the black tape signaling the border between the two countries.

The source of light in the room came from five lamps in the room, four in each corner, and one hanging above the table.

Naruto took in the surrounding of the room, only being interrupted when a voice spoke out "I see you are well protected, Hokage-sama."

Naruto broke out of his trance as he looked for the sound of the voice until his eyes landed squarely on the person sitting at the other end of the table.

The Fifth Mizukage.

They had their hands up as their face rested on their hands, their Kage hat halfway hiding their face as they appeared to have a blue dress on with a white cloak that had the Water Country symbol and the Kiri symbol on it. "To have the copy ninja, Kakashi Hatake, and one of the legendary Sannin in Jiraiya, you certainly travel well protected."

" _A girl?"_ That was Naruto's first thought as he heard the Mizukage speak, and that would be fully confirmed when the Mizukage raised their head as their eyes met Narutos.

"Of course in this day and age, it should be expected I guess." Naruto felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of his head, nervousness wanting to overtake him, yet he didn't let it show as he nodded his head and walked towards the table.

"Well, I chose the two people I trust the most. I'd rather have someone weak that I can trust, that someone who's strong that I can't trust. Lucky for me, the two people closest to me are just both strong."

"I see, so you value trustworthiness over strength, a quality trait I must say." The Mizukage seemed to compliment him as Naruto pulled the chair out and sat down, Kakashi and Jiraiya both standing beside the door, facing the two bodyguards that the Mizukage had brought with her. "Even still, strength is still something you need at the end of the day."

"Of course, there's no doubt when it comes to that. But if you have a bunch of strong shoulders that you can't trust, then you're destined to lose, no matter how weak the opponent may be."

"Well, there isn't any doubt in those words either Hokage-sama." Naruto and the Mizukage seemed to have established a good starting off point with each other, as Naruto reached his hands up towards his hat.

"Now Mizukage-sama, I believe we have quite a few things to discuss." Naruto grabbed his hat and began taking it off as the Mizukage nodded.

"I agree, Hokage-sama." The Mizukage did the same as both Kage's took off their hats and placed them on the table in front of them, fully revealing their faces to one another.

" _I certainly wasn't expecting a girl, that's for sure, especially since to my knowledge there has never been a female Kage before. Not only that, she's quite beautiful If I'm honest."  
_

_"I wasn't expecting the Hokage to be someone so young, after all, all of my files have all the Kage's in history being rather old, the sole exception being the Fourth Hokage."  
_

While both Kage's were a bit surprised by one another, neither one let it show as they both seemed to be relaxed.

Kakashi watched the entire proceeding with nervousness, knowing that this was one of the most critical meetings in recent history. " _So far, so good."_

Naruto was the first to speak as he took an inward sigh "Mizukage-sama, I'm sure you know, but our two villages, or rather, our two countries have been at war for years now, with our predecessors only signing a ceasefire and never a peace treaty."

"Of course, one of the mains reasons I accepted your invitation for this meeting was because of that very fact."

"I see, well if you ask me, we have no reason to still be at war with one another. While tension still exists between the many nations and villages, no active wars are going on. Even the conflict between us and Sunagakure have already been discussed, and we are already working towards a future where we can call each other allies once again."

"That quickly? I must say Hokage-sama, to be willing to forgive another village so quickly, especially since they were partially responsible for the death of your predecessor, is unheard of. Many people enjoy holding grudges after all."

"Well, let's just say I've never been one to hold a grudge, I know all too well what it's like to deal with conflict every day of your life. I don't wish that on anyone else, so my goal is to build a future where the children of all the villages and nations can play together without worry."

"That's very noble of you Hokage-sama, though a bit unrealistic if you ask me."

"Well, people used to tell me I would never become Hokage, yet here I am." Naruto gave a small laugh, which the Mizukage returned with a smile. "So I will fight every day for my new goal of a world without conflict, and I believe I can start truly building towards that goal with you Mizukage."

"So, you're saying you wish to go against the Third Hokage and the Fourth Mizukage by ending the war between us and even becoming allies? You're willing to ignore Kiri's bloody past where we were known as the "Bloody Mist," your willing to put aside the fact that our countries, on both sides, killed hundreds of our fellow countrymen."

Kakashi and Jiraiya both tensed up a little bit at the Mizukage's tone, yet Naruto just kept his smile as he nodded "That's exactly what I'm saying, because we're not living in the past anymore, we're living in the present."

The Mizukage just looked at Naruto for a moment before she gave a small laugh "You really are someone young and inexperienced...Yet, it allows you to look past the darkness and at the light, something many people lack. So in that case, Hokage-sama, I am more than willing to agree to ending this pointless war between our two nations."

Naruto smiled as he stood up from his seat and extended his hand out, making the four guards get tense, but the Mizukage merely replicated the action as she stood up and reached out and locked her hand with Naruto's as the two shook. "I also hope, Mizukage-sama, this means we can also begin working on other things such as trade deals, prisoner swaps, and maybe even an alliance."

"Why wait? I'm not like the Fourth, I'm more than willing to help my village anyway I can that doesn't involve bloodshed, and trade deals and alliances are something we really need right now Hokage-sama."

"In that case, no need to call me Hokage-sama, especially if we're allies."

"Oh? Then what would you like to be called?"

"Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki, the son of the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze." Kakashi and Jiraiya were both surprised by Naruto revealing that fact, yet the Mizukage just nodded.

"I see, well being the son of such a famous shinobi explains why you were made Hokage at such a young age. Very well Naruto, you can call me Mei, Mei Terumi, it's an honor."

"The honor is all mine; I admit I was a bit nervous coming to this meeting, other than the old- I mean the Third Hokage, I had never met a kage before."

"You were nervous? Well, that makes me feel a bit better then, this was my first meeting as the Mizukage, so I was quite worried I would mess this up." The two Kage's shared a laugh as Kakashi and Jiraiya looked at other in surprise, not expecting this at all.

After the two stopped laughing, they unlocked their hands as Naruto placed his hands on the table, the both of them still standing "I'm sure the Daimyo's will have to approve of our peace treaty since the nations themselves were at war, but everything else we can discuss with each other."

"Of course, I will inform Water Daimyo-sama as soon as I return to the village. Should I send a message out to your village to begin preparing our next meeting to discuss the details of a trade agreement?"

Naruto thought for a second when suddenly an idea hit him as he turned back to Kakashi "Hey Kakashi, my public inauguration is next week, right?"

"Hm? Yeah, why?" Naruto nodded as he turned back to Mei and smiled.

"How about this? I believe it would be of great importance if you attended my public ceremony next week."

"Huh? Really?"

"Yeah! In fact, tell the Water Daimyo that he's invited as well."

"Really? While I thank you for the invite, may I ask what your intentions are for doing so?"

"It's simple like I said, I want to eventually have it to where the world is at peace with one another, and the first step is making peace with your enemies. For too long, our two nations have been at war, and for too long has Kiri been hated by every village. I propose that right after I am publicly announced as the Hokage and give me speech, that the four of us, Me, you, Water Daimyo-sama and Fire Daimyo-sama, all sign the peace treaty to officially end the war, and then me and you will sign the paperwork for our alliance. Since it's my public ceremony, every other nation will be watching, so every other nation will know of our new friendship."

"So, making it very public that Konoha and Kiri are allies huh? I see, while I would return the invite Naruto, my public ceremony takes place tomorrow, and I'm afraid that many of my civilians want the "Bloody Mist Era" to continue, so it may not be entirely safe for you at the moment."

"I understand, and I fully hope that there will be a day I will be able to walk the streets of Kiri with you."

"Indeed, that is a day that I look forward to as well." The two Kage's once again shook hands as the four guards in the room were impressed with both sides, and also relieved that the endless war could finally be put to rest. "Well, while the meeting was short, I believe it was more than productive as an era of friendship can begin between our villages."

"I agree, I will have some shinobi escort you to the village next week, it's about a day and a half from here to the village, so I shall send supplies as well."

"Thank you for your generosity." Mei gave a bow as she reached down and picked her hat back up as she placed it on her head "Well I have to start preparing for my ceremony tomorrow, especially since I now have more than I initially thought I would to discuss with Daimyo-sama."

Naruto also reached down and grabbed his hat as he placed it on his head as he replied: "Of course, I wish you good luck with it, and I await your arrival next week, Mizukage-sama."

Mei laughed as she nodded "I thank you once again, Hokage-sama."

The two Kage's turned and headed for the doors as Naruto stopped to allow Mei and her guards leave first, as Kakashi looked down at him and spoke: "Well, that went better than expected."

"You're telling me, I was worried the entire time I would mess that entire thing up."

"Well, of course, having people willing to find common ground certainly helps. Just wait until you deal with someone who isn't so willing, then you'll find out why people hate negotiating."

Naruto swallowed as he nodded "Well, that will happen someday...I just hope it doesn't come anytime soon."

* * *


	14. The Festival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Night Before Konoha announces the new Hokage must be celebrated and everybody in the village is getting involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this might have been the longest time between uploads, which I apologize for! Life is well...Life haha, so it can be a bit problematic at times. Still this is part 1 of 2 of Naruto's public ceremony, so I hope you like both the relationship building, as well as the political and plot devlopments as always! Hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> Also I would like to once again promote my side story 'The Untold Erotic Stories' over on my Secondary pseudo, since it has sex based chapters based off the couples in this story and it will be updated once again when I finish the next chapter of this story. The story comes with custom pictures as well.
> 
> Finally, as I say every so often, you can find a link to all of the couples on my profile. Just so people know everything in that regard!
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoy!

The Night Sky replaced the light that had been shining down for the entire day, yet the village was alive like never before. The whole village was celebrating with one another; bars were staying open all night, children were up way past their bedtimes, adults didn't have a care in the world; even the shinobi were having a good time.

What else are you supposed to do the night before the Hokage Ceremony?

It had been three weeks since Naruto was privately inducted as the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, and during those three weeks; the jonin had worked nonstop in trying to raise Naruto's public image to where there wouldn't be open revolt as soon as the announcement was made.

Their work had been paying off though; they had successfully made Naruto into a well known public figure, giving him the credit for fending off Sunagakure; as well as making him the one who defeated the missing-nin Haku and Zabuza, even if that part wasn't really true.

In a span of weeks, Naruto went from someone who was cursed if you mentioned his name; to people thanking the heavens that he was around. Naruto personally felt this as well, as he was often talked to while traveling throughout the village and also was a priority in restaurants and the such; something usually reserved for the Jonin.

Naruto was glad that the people of the village finally viewed him as...Well...Somebody, and not a nobody. He knew that once the truth came out, he would be living in a world where he wouldn't be treated like everyone else; but in a strange twist, that was normal to him, even if it would be a different way of being treated.

Naruto sighed in content as he looked up at the children who ran past him, proclaiming that they would be the ones people would be cheering when they grew up. Naruto smiled at them as they ran by, knowing full well what that feeling felt like.

He had grown up mentally quite a bit in the last three weeks, while he was never the dead last people thought he was; he had gained quite a bit of knowledge nonetheless during his short time as Hokage.

As Naruto looked at everyone with a small smile, his train of thought was interrupted by the flaps opening up beside him "Enjoying the festival Naruto?"

Naruto looked up to see Iruka, holding a bag of sweets as he sat down on the bench beside Naruto who nodded "Yeah, I guess. Though honestly, my mind is kind of all over the place at the moment."

"Haha, well that's to be expected. Unlike most people, you have quite a busy day tomorrow." Iruka opened the bag of sweets and motioned for Naruto to grab some.

"Heh, yeah…" Naruto grabbed a handful of the sweets as he leaned back and looked at all the people enjoying themselves, many of them already trying to find a good spot for the Fireworks show; even though it was still a few hours away "It's just surreal, everyone here will be cheering for me come tomorrow. Well, I hope they're cheering anyway."

Naruto looked down at the ground as Iruka patted him on the shoulder "Don't think like that! Of course, they will be! The lies of the past have been washed away, and a clean slate is now present. The ones who still view you negatively will sign their own execution papers with their blood, while the ones who welcome you will be entering into a new world of bliss. At least, that's how I see it anyway!"

"Heh, thanks Iruka-sensei. You always know how to cheer me up I guess, though it's kinda bad one of my subordinates has to do that." Naruto gave a grin towards Iruka who just smiled back.

"Well, at least I'm good for something." The two of them shared a laugh as they both looked back out to the crowd of people, many of them having fun for the first time since Orochimaru's attack.

As Naruto sat there, the sound of music entered into his ears as the flute players had begun playing. They were a well-known band who were famous for being able to play the flute for hours and were set to play until the pre-festival ended with the firework show.

As Naruto enjoyed the music that had invaded the festival, three small figures ran up to him as the middle one called out "Iruka-sensei! Boss!"

"Huh? Oh, Konohamaru!" Naruto yelled back as Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon ran up to him and Iruka. Konohamaru was dressed in his usual attire, but with a red scarf around his neck with the words 'Fifth Hokage' on it, Udon was dressed in a kids jonin outfit with a headband saying 'Fifth Hokage' while Moegi had on a kimono along with a kid version of the Hokage's Hat. "Huh? What's with all the Hokage stuff?"

"What are you saying boss? Everybody's selling stuff like this! We all decided to get something so we can remember this night forever!"

"Yeah! This hat looks great with my kimono as well! Don't you think Naruto?"

"A-And this h-headband looks great!"

Naruto nodded at the three of them before he looked over at Iruka "I see you been teaching them well Iruka-sensei."

"What are you talking about? They're acting like all the other kids around here."

"Exactly, meaning you've done a good job." Iruka just smiled as Naruto turned back towards the trio as he spoke: "So, what are you guys planning on doing tonight?"

"Everything of course! This is the only night that I'll be able to participate in after all, so I have to make sure it counts! Because next time we have the night festival for the new Hokage, I'll be the one they're celebrating!"

"I see, well I'm enjoying myself so you can as well Konohamaru."

"A-Ah well, I'll be heavily guarded then, ehehe…" Konohamaru scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, though Moegi and Udon just looked at each other in confusion as Moegi spoke.

"Konohamaru, Naruto, what do you two mean about Naruto enjoying himself?" Naruto and Konohamaru both had blank stares as they looked at each other before Konohamaru turned around and gulped.

"A-Ah nothing really...J-Just talking ehehe…"

"Huh? What do you-"

"A-Anyway! I'll see you, tomorrow boss!" Konohamaru gave a quick goodbye to Naruto as he grabbed Moegi's and Udon's hands as he quickly lead them away, Moegi questioning him the entire time while Udon stared at him in confusion.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief, though Iruka let out one of annoyance "You know, I would think you be better at keeping secrets by now."

"H-HeyIiruka-sensei, no reason to call me out...Ehehe...Heh…" Iruka just gave a blank stare to Naruto, who scratched the back of his head.

Not soon after the kids left; however, Naruto was saved as another person came up to him "Evening Naruto."

"Huh?" Naruto looked beside him and saw a girl in a pink kimono with red roses on it, holding a cone of cotton candy as she gave a smile towards him "Oh! Hey Sakura."

"Ehehe, I'm surprised you're not dressed up. I figured you would be since this is the last time you can really party and the like."

"Ah well, never really been one to dress up and all that. But you look good though!" Sakura blushed at his comments as she pulled the cotton candy up to her face to hide it.

"T-Thanks, mom helped me do my hair and everything, while my grandmother gave me the kimono. She said it's the very same one she wore when Sarutobi-sama was introduced as Hokage." Naruto gave a smile towards her as memories of Hiruzen flashed through his mind, though he immediately moved past them as he spoke.

"Well, it looks excellent on you! Really brings out the color in your hair!" Sakura blushed even deeper from the comment as she looked away bashfully, giving a small nod in response. "Although I'm surprised you're alone, I figured you would have come with someone."

"O-Oh, well I was just going to walk around with mom, but she was pulled away by one of her friends, and she told me she would come to find me in a few minutes. So I've kind of just been walking around, trying to find somebody I knew. Was pleasantly surprised to find you out in the open though."

"Figured I would at least talk to a few people hehe." Naruto gave a small laugh as he pushed himself up and stretched, the smell of food penetrating his nostrils thanks to the many vendors who had packed the streets. "Also, it might be suspicious if I wasn't out in the open like this."

"Would it really matter though? The whole village will be finding out tomorrow."

"Well not quite the whole village, Team Guy and Shino have yet to return to the village. The good news is that Neji and Tenten are both making progress, with Tenten walking around and Naji finally coming to…"

"Oh I didn't know about anything like that, did something happen?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, guess it has been kept secret. Well, all I'll say is that it's nothing to worry about, so don't worry." Sakura gave him a questioning look, but that was replaced by another blush as Naruto gave his trademark smile towards her.

"I-I see...T-Then I won't question it then." Naruto just gave a nod towards Sakura as Iruka looked between the two with a smile. However, that would be soon interrupted as another figure emerged from the crowd.

"Figured you two would be together." Naruto and Sakura both looked towards the direction of the voice and immediately smiled when they saw who it was.

"Sasuke!" Sakura gave a happy yell towards him, which he returned with a head nod as he walked towards the duo. Sasuke was wearing his trademark outfit, though he had bandages all over him and still walked with a small limp.

Stopping a few feet from them, Sasuke looked at Naruto and smirked: "You're just hours away from being known as the Hokage, yet you still look like a dork."

"Ah geez, thanks Sasuke." Naruto gave a sarcastic response but smiled back towards him "Still, I'm a bit surprised you're here. You never seemed like the festive type to me."

"I don't plan on staying if that's what you're trying to imply, I just came here to meet with someone is all."

"Huh? Meet with someone?" Naruto gave a questioning look to Sasuke, though he just waved it off.

"Just an acquaintance, that's all. Nothing for either of you to worry about." Naruto noticed a small bit of venom in those words but decided not to say anything about it as he nodded.

"Alright then…" The two of them went quiet for a moment, but that silence was quickly broken by Sakura.

"Hey, why don't all three of us go to eat somewhere together! It's been a while since we've done something like that!" Sakura clasped her hands together as she gave a heartwarming smile to the two of them, causing the both of them to relax some.

Naruto was about to nod and agree with the idea, but before he could a fourth voice rang out towards them "It's been a while since I've seen you three together."

The trio looked towards the sound of the new voice and saw Kakashi walking up to them as Sakura smiled towards him "Kakashi-sensei! We were just about to go and eat; want to join us?"

"Well I would, but all of the jonin are a bit busy tonight. Just thought I would drop by real quick and say hello to you all."

"Oh really? That's must stink, having to work on such a festive night." Kakashi shrugged his shoulders at Sakura as his gaze slowly started to turn.

"Well it's work, so I can't complain; speaking of...Naruto." Kakashi turned his gaze fully towards Naruto who looked up at him "Mind coming with me for a moment? I need your help with something."

Realizing immediately what Kakashi meant, Naruto just gave a nod of the head as he turned towards Sakura "Sorry, but I'm going have to go for a bit. But thanks for offering Sakura, I'll take you up on that offer in the future."

"O-Oh...A-Alright! That's fine!" Naruto nodded as he turned to leave with Kakashi, leaving just Sasuke and Sakura together "W-Well me and you can still eat Sas-"

"As I said, I have to meet with someone." Not allowing her to finish, Sasuke walked past Sakura and vanished into the crowd; leaving just Sakura and Iruka.

"O-Oh…" Sakura looked over towards Iruka and gave an awkward laugh "S-Sorry you had to see that."

Iruka shook his head as he pushed himself up and walked over towards Sakura "It's fine, I know how Sasuke is. You guys were my students after all."

Iruka handed Sakura a piece of candy before he disappeared into the crowd as well, leaving Sakura by herself. Sighing, Sakura started walking as she talked to herself "Guess I'll be eating alone…"

* * *

Naruto and Kakashi left the main festival grounds and ducked into a few alleyways before they were completely alone as they stopped in between two buildings. "So, what's up?"

Naruto looked at Kakashi who nodded in response "Daimyo-sama has entered into the village barrier and will be arriving in the next hour. Furthermore, The Mizukage and the Water Daimyo are expected to arrive in around three hours."

"I see, well I should meet with all of them. Do they all know about the alliance and peace treaty?"

"Yeah, and all of them have committed to signing it. It should be noted that it would be best for you to hold off on signing the papers until the ceremony tomorrow, that way you can have a major political victory right out of the gate." Naruto nodded again, Kizashi had told him the same thing, and he couldn't disagree with that logic.

Naruto had hoped to talk to Gaara and see if Suna would be interested in signing the treaty, but Kakashi had talked him out of it by saying that the village may not be ready to move on and realign themselves with Suna once again. Kakashi had also made the point that the Suna ambassador would be arriving the morning of his ceremony and that they would be an essential first step towards helping build support towards an alliance with Suna.

Speaking of ambassador, Naruto still hadn't come up with an ambassador to send to Suna. That problem was only amplified by the fact that he had received word from Kiri that they wished to exchange ambassadors and that the Kiri ambassador would be arriving with the Mizukage. He had been reassured that he could take his time in picking them, but he knew that the longer he waited, the harder it made it on developing relationships with one another.

Furrowing his brow as the ambassadors ran through his mind, Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder and calmly spoke: "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's just...Well, what do you think?" Naruto looked up at Kakashi as he continued "You have anyone in mind for the ambassador positions?"

"Oh, well I could say some of the Third's ambassadors are still alive, but I know you wish to move on to young blood, something the Jonin Council agrees with. In that regard, I can recommend any of the current jonin, or maybe even Chunin, to such a position. Whoever you do choose will have to be people who know their stuff and has a great mind in terms of negotiations."

Naruto thought for a moment on if someone like that was close to him when suddenly a lightbulb went off in his head "You said we have an hour until the Daimyo arrives correct?"

"Hm? Yeah, but why does that matter?"

Naruto gave a smile as he turned and began walking "I have a few things to do before he gets here, so I'm heading back to the tower."

"Huh? Naruto wait a-"

"Kakashi-sensei, I need you to do something for me."

"What?" Naruto looked back and gave a thumbs up as he spoke.

"Have Shikamaru come to my office at once!"

* * *

As the sound of people cheering, talking and the sound of flutes could be heard in the distance, two elderly people sat quietly in an old building near the wall of the village. They had been living private lives for a few weeks now but had suddenly been summoned to this location by an unknown letter.

Despite the letter being rather sketchy and the such, they knew who had sent the message and therefore were waiting patiently for him to arrive. Finally, after a few minutes, the creaky door opened as a man with a cane walked in, causing the woman to look up and speak "Danzo, it's quite strange for you to summon us at this time."

The man who had walked in was Danzo as he looked at the two people with little interest as he closed the door behind him and stared at the figures "Hmph, everything I do is apart of my greater plan, the two of you should know that quite well."

The two figures didn't say anything for a moment before the old woman continued "Well, we were the Hokage's Council for the longest time, so we are quite aware of how grand your plans always were."

The figures were the former elders Koharu and Homura, both of them were rather displeased with how events had unfolded so far and had been waiting to see what Danzo's plan was. "Hmph, no matter how much you observed, you could never find out exactly what I was planning. But that's neither here nor there; I have caused you here for one important reason."

"Which is?"

"As if you need to ask, it's to put the Jinchuuriki in his place. I was hoping to have a meeting with him and lay out my own plan for the future, but the Jonin Council continues to get in my way, and because of that he has already made a futile deal with Suna. They should be crushed for trying to take over our village, yet he offers them mercy. It's a repulsive sign of weakness from him and shows that the Daimyo made a fatal mistake in choosing him as the Hokage."

"So what then? Are you planning on going to the Daimyo himself to make a sudden declaration to name you Hokage instead?"

"No, that time has come and gone. The only way now is to unite the village under one banner against the Jinchuuriki and take back not only the village but the country as well. The Daimyo only has a few years left on his life, and a successor will have to be named. If another incompetent one is chosen, then our country will continue to fall into despair."

"Then what do you plan to do?"

"Hmph, isn't it obvious? I plan on ascending to the Daimyo position and steering not only the village but the country into a future of power!"

"The Daimyo? Only the ones who are descendants of the Founder of this country can be named to such a position, something you don't have Danzo." Danzo huffed through his nose as he moved over to a seal plastered on the wall as he placed his hand on it.

"Allow me to introduce you to my solution." Danzo undid the seal on the wall, which allowed a hanging scroll to suddenly appear with Kanji written all over it "Or rather, let me introduce you to the Final Solution."

"The...Final Solution?" Danzo nodded as he began explaining everything that was written."My five-step plan for a better and stronger future. It all begins with eliminating everyone that is descended from the founder and installing myself as Daimyo."

"W-What!" The elders both screamed out as they looked at Danzo with disbelieving eyes "T-That's…!"

"Hmph, it's what? Treason? That argument was abandoned when the Daimyo chose the Jinchuuriki as the Fifth Hokage, for the Daimyo himself committed treason by naming a weapon as our leader. Once the Daimyo is gone, I shall then move onto the second step which is installing a new Hokage to be my right-hand man."

"Even if you do all of that, there will be revolts in the streets! Outside of Konoha, there are mostly civilians, and they take orders directly from the Daimyo!"

"Hmph, that plays into the third step. Once I'm in power, I will begin my cleansing of all the useless residents of this country! Average civilians will be put in work camps and will supply the shinobi with food and resources without pay. While the men will spend all day tending to the fields, the women will be crafting new clothes and armor, while also continuously giving birth to the next generation. Once the men are too old to work and the women to old to supply the next generation, then they will be disposed of to save scraps that can be used to feed the others."

"...This plan of yours is exactly what was attempted in the legend of the Kaxi Clan, and it lead to their complete destruction!"

"While the Kaxi clan provided a groundwork, they had terrible execution and didn't have the power to enforce it. They also didn't have the next step, which is to ensure the entire next generation is loyal to nobody but the Country and Konoha! Siblings will be forced to fight to the death at a young age, so they understand that loss is a must to ensure the country continues living."

"...And the Fifth Step?"

"The Fifth Step...Well, you two will lay the groundwork for that procedure."

"What do you-Agh!" Before Koharu could finish, she and Homaru felt a burning sensation rush through their necks and down their backs before they were frozen solid, unable to move. They had been paralyzed by something, but they had no idea what.

"Yes, you two will be the groundwork...Isn't that right, Orochimaru?" Two snakes that had bitten the elders undetected suddenly dropped off of their necks and slithered to the back of the dark room as two figures suddenly emerged, proving to be Kabuto and Orochimaru. Though still weak from his attack and battle, Orochimaru was supported by two crutches as the snakes slithered back up his pants legs.

The elders couldn't move but could feel a fear course through them when they heard Danzo speak, the chuckling only amplified that fear and then words from Orochimaru himself "You say laying the groundwork, yet I'm the one who has done all of the work Danzo."

Orochimaru spoke in a sinister tone as Danzo eyed him with an emotionless expression "I'm the one who got you the two of them, so my plan is progressing because of my actions like always. But enough talk, supply your end of the bargain."

"Hehehe, of course. Kabuto…" Kabuto nodded as he emerged from the shadows to show he was carrying around a body bag as he laid it on the floor in front of Danzo and unzipped it to show the person inside. "Take care of her will you? She's like a daughter to me hehehe."

Orochimaru gave a low, sinister laugh as Danzo used his cane to move the body bag some to examine the girl inside "Hmph, her hair color is proof enough of her lineage. But tell me, how exactly did you acquire her?"

"Now Danzo, why would I give away my methods? All our little deal entailed was you handing these two over to me for my experiments, while I supply you a living body to use for your plans. Though I will admit, I was a little sad when you chose her as the body you wanted."

"Hmph, her lineage is necessary. Although to acquire her by giving you the body of these two fossils, what's the reasoning behind that?"

"Oh nothing much; these two are just needed for two little experiments of mine." The elders couldn't show the fear coursing through their bodies as Kabuto took their paralyzed bodies and began putting them into two separate body bags "But I must ask as well, how exactly is this girl going to be the groundwork for your final step?"

Danzo eyed Orochimaru confidently as before he looked back down at her and spoke: "She will be the one to lead the troops for my Advanced Strike Force."

* * *

Sakura sadly walked through the crowd with her almost gone cotton candy in her hands, her plans for the entire night pretty much ruined. She had made sure to have her mom help her with her makeup and hair so she could be alone with Naruto, and while that was ruined with Sasuke showed, she still wanted to spend this one last night together as a team.

Yet that was now all ruined, and all she could do was sigh, yet in her despair, she didn't notice where she was going until she ran into the back of someone, knocking them both down "Oh!"

"Ah!" Sakura and the one she ran into both fell down to the ground as Sakura dropped her cotton candy, and landed right on her ass. She rubbed her back as she began speaking.

"S-Sorry about that!"

"O-Oh no it's fine, it-" The one she ran into stopped talking as she turned around and looked at who ran into her "...Sakura?"

Sakura opened her eyes and was also surprised at who she ran into. "I-Ino?"

The one Sakura had run into was Ino, dressed in a yellow Kimono with flower patterns all over it. Her hair was also done in a style, and she had apparent makeup on. The two of them looked at each other shocked for a moment before they both scrunched up their faces "Pfft, of course, it would be forehead who would run into me!"

"Tch, well it's hard to avoid a bitch when she's as big as you!"

"What did you say Forehead!?"

"I don't know! What did I say, bitch?" The two of them got right up into each other's faces as they practically growled at each other, and were only interrupted because Ino wasn't alone.

"Hey come on now you two; you're in public." The one to speak was Asuma, as he reached down and pulled the two of them apart.

"Tell Forehead to apologize for running into me!"

"Tell Bitchface here to apologize for being in my way!" The two girls continued to argue back and forth, causing Asuma to sigh as he got in the middle of them and pushed them away from one another.

"Now come on you girls, tonight is a celebration! Let's not ruin it over some trivial matters!" Despite his protest, the two of them still flung insults at each other, causing Asuma just to sigh as members of the crowd started to look their way. He tried to find something to say, but before he could another voice rang out.

"How about instead of arguing, we all go and grab something to eat!" The one to speak was Kurenai, who was with Asuma and Ino, as she was wearing a purple kimono, along with a green stash. "There's a great seafood place just a few blocks from here; how about we treat you two?"

Sakura and Ino both looked up at Kurenai, before looking back at each other as they glared before they both spoke "Sure."

The glares intensified after they said the exact thing at the same time, yet before they could argue again, Kurenai clasped her hands together "Wonderful! I've really been wanting to eat there; it will be fun having you two with us! Don't you think so?"

Kurenai looked at Asuma, who just did a small nod, yet thoughts of how his date turned into babysitting were beginning to become present.

* * *

Neither of the girls spoke to each other as Kurenai lead the small group to the restaurant, which had a giant wooden fish on top of it along with people outside promoting the 'Fifth Hokage Salmon' and other promotional items.

There wasn't much of a line, and when Asuma and Kurenai were seen, they were seated right away due to their rank of Jonin, with Sakura and Ino getting the same treatment after Kurenai noted the girls were with them.

Taking their seats at a wooden booth, the sound of people talking all around them drowning out the festival music to a degree. Asuma and Sakura sat on one side while Ino and Kurenai sat on the other, and though Sakura and Ino sat across from each other, they refused to look at one another as Asuma just uttered another sigh.

Kurenai kept her upbeat demeanor however as she seemed not to mind the action of the girls as she opened her menu and began scanning over the food items, occasionally pointing things out to Asuma on what they should have.

After a few minutes of silence and reading, Kurenai looked beside her at Ino and smiled "So what do you want Ino?"

"Huh?" Ino looked up from her menu with her still annoyed expression though it melted away when she looked Kurenai in the face "Oh...Um...I'll just have whatever you get Kurenai-sensei."

"Oh? Not very picky are you?" Ino just shrugged as she closed her menu, yet her stare returned to it despite it now being closed, most likely not wanting to meet Sakura eye to eye. Kurenai just gave a small nod afterward as she turned her gaze over to Asuma "What are you going to eat?"

"Hm...I'll just have the Rama Shrimp and some tea."

"Alright, and you Sakura?" Kurenai tilted her head towards Sakura, who hadn't even opened her menu as she also shrugged.

"I'll just have what Asuma-sensei ordered." Kurenai nodded as a small smile came over her face as she spoke.

"Alright then, so I guess everyone is getting the Shrimp? Cause that's what Ino and I want as well." As soon as the words left her mouth, Ino and Sakura perked up as they glared at each other before Ino crossed her arms.

"I don't want the same thing as Forehead! Just give me the Hiru Lobster instead!"

"Hey, Bitch! I was going to change my order to that!" Sakura and Ino again began going at each other, making Asuma just look at Kurenai with a look of disbelief. Yet while Kurenai seemed a bit frustrated, she didn't lose her smile as she looked at Ino.

"Well we can think it over for a bit I guess...In fact, I know a good way we can pass the time Ino!" Ino looked over at Kurenai and raised her eyebrow, unaware of what Kurenai wanted. "I left my purse at the house, would you mind walking with me to grab it?"

"Huh? Oh...I guess I can." Giving one last glare to one another, Ino got out of the booth and began walking away with Kurenai, but stopped as Kurenai looked back once more.

"This would be a good time to get to know each other; you two are now on a team after all!" Kurenai gave Asuma a knowing look, and he understood what she was trying to get at. He simply offered a nod in return, which was all that was needed as Kurenai left the restaurant with Ino in tow.

Sakura seemed to get more relax once Ino left as she sighed, something that didn't go unnoticed by Asuma as he looked at her "So...It seems you and Ino don't exactly like one another."

Sakura gave a tch sound as she looked back down at the menu "Well she's always tried to get one up on me, always trying to surpass me. It's hard to like someone like that if you ask me."

"Surpass you? Other than you having a crush on Sasuke, I've never noticed her trying to get one up on you."

"That's the things though! All the girls always liked Sasuke, but I could feel that we were meant to be together. I told Ino this because she never expressed the same interest in Sasuke that the others did, yet the very next day I find her crushing on Sasuke! She did that because she knew of my feelings!"

"I mean it could have been some other reason, maybe she was jealous?"

"Jealous?"

"Yeah like...Maybe she didn't want to lose her best friend? Love can be more powerful than friendship in some cases."

"Tch, if she had told me that she liked Sasuke when I told her, then it would have been different. But no, she had to just go and crush on him after I told her, and even had the gall of saying she was his soulmate! Right after I told her the same thing!" Sakura seemed genuinely annoyed, causing Asuma to sigh as he rubbed his temple.

"Well, maybe she didn't know any other way to express it?"

"As I said, she could have just told me!" This line of questioning was getting nowhere for Asuma, and he knew it. He knew he had to change up the questioning somehow, so he tried to find a topic that would work.

"Ok look, you had some bad times in the past. But other than Sasuke, can you name any other time when she tried to one-up you or anything of the sort?"

"Of course! The other day when I was talking to Naruto! She just had to butt in and be all cute around him!" Asuma mentally facepalmed as he waved his hands.

"Alright, let me rephrase that. Other than boys, is there any time when she tried to one-up you?" Sakura opened her mouth to speak but closed it right back afterward. Her train of thought ran through every station in her mind, yet she couldn't find a concrete answer. In fact, the more she thoughts about it, the more she realized it was really all about guys wasn't it?

"W-Well, I guess I can't really…"

"See then? You two hate each other over something stupid as guys. I mean they don't make the world go around or anything, especially at your age. Something such as relationships or marriage shouldn't be an issue until much later down the line." Sakura seemed to think, and Asuma thought she had her when…

"Well actually, she tried to one-up me when we fought in the Chunin Exams!" Asuma slouched as he placed a hand on his head.

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Kurenai and Ino walked through the streets rather quiet, other than the occasional remark by Kurenai about the sights. After a few minutes of walking though, Kurenai asked her first question "So you know why I brought you with me right?"

Ino was quiet for a moment before she sighed and nodded "Y-Yeah…"

"Good, then you shouldn't have too much of a problem answering this. Even though you and Sakura are almost thirteen, you still act like kids. What's the reasoning behind this?" Ino was quiet again for a few moments before she shrugged.

"I-I don't know...I mean I don't really like Forehead, but I don't ever hate her. It's just, whenever we're around each other, I just get furious at her." Kurenai nodded as she looked back ahead.

"Well, it could be a few different reasons. Do you have some sort of old feud or anything from the past that make the two of you go after one another?"

"I-I can really only think of Sasuke off the top of my head. In fact, we used to be friends before him, but I guess we both kind of got swept up in his popularity and everything...Which can you really blame us? I mean Sasuke's really cool and everything!" Despite her sudden praise of Sasuke, Kurenai just raised an eyebrow as she looked forward again.

"Really? So because Sasuke is cool and handsome, you value that over the friendship you shared with Sakura?"

"Huh?...W-Well, no of course not…"

"Then why did you choose him over Sakura? If it wasn't for the basic reasons that a crush may have, then what could it have been? Did an event or something come in between the two of you?"

"Well, not that I can remember. I know that before Sasuke became really popular, we never had any problems between the two of us. Heck, even when he did become popular, we still liked each other until-" Ino stopped talking as her mind suddenly remembered an old memory that had been hidden away, making her go wide-eyed as she thought for a moment.

"Until…?"

"We were friends...Until the day Sakura told me she had a crush on Sasuke like all of the other girls did...Everything after that though is hazy." Ino rubbed her temple as she kept walking with Kurenai before swinging her head "Yeah, I can't remember much. But I do remember that everything went downhill after she told me she loved Sasuke. I can't remember exactly why though."

"You can't remember? Are you sure you just don't want to remember?"

"Huh? Why would I not want to remember?" Ino looked Kurenai in the eyes, and after a moment Kurenai let out a small laugh as she shook her head.

"Well, I'm no therapist but sometimes we suppress memories and feelings we don't want to acknowledge, and unless someone else drags those memories out we never fully remember or embrace them. Perhaps you can request Ibiki Morino to search around in your brain sometime?" Ino had a chill go up her spine from just the thought of that, she had heard horror stories of the Konoha interrogation force, and she didn't want to experience that first hand.

Ino waved her hands in front of her face as she desperately spoke "N-No! That won't be necessarily sensei! I mean, after all, I would know if I was trying to hide something from myself! I mean only memories with trauma can be subdued right?"

"Any memory can be suppressed in the human mind, whether it be something like trauma or even something like happiness. It all depends on if the one who has said memory wishes to accept it as the truth or not. Even something like love can be suppressed if said person doesn't want to acknowledge the love."

"L-Love?" Ino looked up at Kurenai from the words and seemed to blush from the comment before she shook her head to get rid of it "Love...I see…"

Kurenai raised an eyebrow as Ino, a thought running through her head, though a thought that would need more proof. "Yes, love can be suppressed. Do you happen to love someone that is related to what broke you and Sakura up as friends?"

"Well, I can't really think of someone that I love other than Sasuke…"

Ino seemed to be thinking for a moment before Kurenai pursed her lips together in thought before relaxing them as she spoke "Would it be possible that the person you love and broke up your friendship...Would be Sakura herself?"

Silence overcame the two of them for a moment as Ino just kept looking straight ahead with a neutral expression, almost like she didn't hear the question until…

"...Wait...W-What!" Ino's delayed reaction wasn't just with her words, as her face became red and fear appeared in her eyes as she now forcefully shook her head back and forth while waving her hands "W-What kind of question is that sensei!? I-I love Forehead!? P-Please! T-That's almost as ridiculous as that dobe Naruto becoming Hokage!"

"...Ino…"

After a few seconds, Ino went wide-eyed again as she realized her analogy would imply that she did love Sakura "I-I mean! O-Ok Naruto did...N-Never mind that was a bad example! I-I mean...Hey, do you want some cotton candy? I want some cotton candy!"

Rushing to the nearest vendor, Ino began ordering cotton candy as Kurenai looked on in surprise and amusement as her bewildered expression soon morphed into a small smile as she watched Ino.

After a moment, Ino ran back over with cotton candy as she didn't look Kurenai in the eyes as she kept eating like there was no tomorrow "T-This is really good sensei! You should get some!"

Ino tried to change the conversation, yet Kurenai didn't budge as she gave a small laugh before closing her eyes "Shouldn't you be offering to share with Sakura instead of me?"

"Agh!" Ino started coughing after she heard the remarks as she got choked on a piece of the cotton candy as she furiously beat on her chest before she turned towards Kurenai fully "W-What!?"

"Well I mean you do lo-"

"I-I do not!" Ino's face was full red as she yelled out to Kurenai, many of the others on the streets turning towards her when she did so. As soon as she felt all of their eyes on her, Ino felt even more embarrassed as she looked around "I...I...I gotta go!"

Ino turned and began running away, causing Kurenai to call to her "Hey! Weren't you going to eat with us?"

"Sorry sensei! I forgot mom wanted me to help her find a good place to watch the fireworks!" Kurenai tried to call out again, but Ino ran too far ahead until she vanished from sight; leaving a few confused pedestrians as they talked amongst themselves about what happened.

Kurenai however just smiled as she crossed her arms and looked towards Ino direction is amusement "Well, that was unexpected. Guess it was a good decision to intervene in their little affair."

* * *

While the air outside was filled with people celebrating, dancing, enjoying traditional music and just overall having a good time. There was a different part of town that was celebrating...In their own way.

Far away from the main festivals was a bar called the 'Hoshidan Bar' where shinobi usually gathered after long missions. While the place was never full, this night was the exception. Not only where shinobi inside, but others such as older and gruff men along with some teenagers who wanted to experience a bar for the first time.

Due to the nature of the night, the bar was allowing anyone older than thirteen to enter instead of the usual eighteen. Of course, regardless of age Shinobi were allowed inside. The bar had different forms of entertainment inside, as people were gambling, drinking or enjoying the 'Hoshidan Dancers' who provided 'personal' shows to occupants with the money to pay for it.

Inside of this place was a feared jonin with purple hair; one of her hands had a whiskey bottle in it. The other had her current poker hand. She looked over the faces of her competitors before looking down at her cards, the card dealer throwing the last card down.

All of the occupants looked at the card and then the others spoke.

'Call'

'Call'

'Call'

Then it was her turn, everyone else had called; what would she do? Not showing any emotion on her face, she laid her whiskey bottle down as she pushed her chips with her free hand "I'm going all in."

The others looked at each in slight amusement, that was a gamble this late in the game. But despite that, none of them wanted to take the easy way out and just fold; they wanted this to be the last round.

All of them nodded as they all pushed their chips in and called out together…

'All in.'

Nobody said anything as the dealer instructed them to show their hands. They all nodded as they flipped their cards over.

The dealer then began to look over each of them as he spoke…

'Two pair.'

'A flush.'

'Three of a kind.'

Finally was the women's, as the dealer looked over her hand and spoke 'Full House...The winner of this pot, and the game overall...Is Anko Mitarashi!"

As soon as her name was called, her poker face vanished as she slammed her hand on the table and yelled out "Woohoo! Guess I'm partying all night boys!"

The others just sighed as one of them looked up and spoke "Five straight wins, you're on fire tonight Anko."

"Damn right I am! It's rare to have a night where everything is half off! I gotta make the money to enjoy it while I can!" The others chuckled as the Dealer handed her a bag filled with her prize money, which was a portion of everybody's entry fee as she stuffed it inside of her jacket pocket. Afterward, she reached for her whiskey glass but noticed it was empty "Huh? Hold on boys, let me refill and then I'll be back to nab my sixth straight win!"

The others gave simple waves as she pushed herself up from the table and past the crowd of people as she walked over to the bar counter and slammed her glass down "Give me a refill pops!"

The bartender, an elderly gentleman with white hair and missing an eye by who went by pops, nodded as he pulled out a whiskey bottle and handed it to Anko "Your tab I presume?"

"Heh, you know me too well!" Ank took the bottle and quickly opened it up and took a large gulp before she looked back over towards her poker table, ready to continue winning throughout the night.

However before she began walking back over there, she heard the door open and immediately a few of the old grizzled vets who often visited the bar called out.

'Hey! It's the endless stomach!'

'Of course, he'd be here tonight! Gotta try that new Hokage steak after all!'

'Going to try to beat your record held in the Bean Challenge today?'

Anko raised an eyebrow at the commotion, wondering just who they were talking about. She figured it was one of the 'food champs' so to speak, who was well known for eating endless amounts of foods. Still, food was only served during the daytime, so she didn't know why they were all getting excited at this point.

Anko looked over towards Pops as she questioned "Hey, you only serve food when it's light out. Why would it matter if one of those record holders is here right now?"

"Well for this night only, in celebration, we're serving special Hokage type foods. I imagine that would be why, which doesn't surprise me if it's the endless stomach who has shown up."

"Endless stomach?" Anko looked towards the door, and as people shuffled around, she finally got a good look on the one they gave the nickname to "Hm? I think that's one of the brats who were apart of the Chunin Exams."

She pushed herself through the crowd until she reached the one who had come in, who was eating a bag of snacks while he talked to some of the older men.

"Hey, brat." The one she spoke to looked up at her, and was a bit taken back as he spoke.

"O-Oh, Anko-sensei?"

"Well, at least you have the decency to remember who I am...Speaking of, what was your name again?"

"It's Choji, Choji Akimichi." The one who had come in and was called the 'Endless Stomach' was indeed Choji Akimichi, which wasn't much of a surprise to Anko since she knew what the Akimichi clan was famous for.

"Choji huh? Don't kids your age have better things to do than come to a bar, especially on a festival night? I mean hell, this is the one place I can usually come to to get away from you genin."

"Well, the thing is, everybody else is kinda busy. Asuma-sensei was on a date, Ino was going to go shopping with her mom, Shikamaru didn't care enough even to attend the festival. So I decided just to come here and get some food."

Anko seemed a bit annoyed by this, though almost immediately a thought crossed her mind as she spoke "Well if you're going to come here and annoy me on my off time, you might as well make yourself useful. How about me and you have a little drinking contest?"

"Huh? I don't drink though."

"What? You're a shinobi, aren't you? What kind of Shinobi doesn't drink?"

"Well, I know Kakashi-sensei doesn't, along with-"

"Tch they may not drink in front of you, but I promise you every shinobi drinks! Besides it's the only time we're going to get half off on our drinks, so might as well make it into a little competition!"

"Well, I'd-"

"Perfect, now, of course, I'm not one to play without compensation of course. If I win, then you have to share all of the sweats that you have on you. Of course, if you somehow win, then I promise you that I will buy you a free dinner, sound good?"

"W-Well I guess, but I doubt I'll last long."

"Hehe, Perfect." Anko had sweet thoughts run through her mind as she pointed at pops and spoke "Pops! Two bottles of whiskey asap, and be sure to keep them coming!"

* * *

"Ambassador?" Shikamaru stood in front of Naruto with both a look of confusion and somewhat annoyance. He didn't plan on doing all that much tonight if he was being honest with himself, he planned to just lay around his house for the night.

Yet suddenly Kakashi had appeared and summoned him here to the Hokage Tower, and not too long after he got here he met with Naruto in the Hokage Office. Naruto had explained that he wished for Shikamaru to become an ambassador to Kiri, and explained he would leave with the Mizukage when she returned to her village after the festival.

"I can understand it's rather sudden, but you're the only one I can trust Shikamaru! Especially with a place like Kiri, who has been at war with us for years now! I trust the Mizukage and her word that she wants to establish better connections, but I'm sure plenty of people in their government think differently, and I need someone I can trust to be the connection between our two villages."

"I get that, but this is rather sudden don't you think? I figured if it were this important, you would have told me sooner than the night before."

"Well if I'm honest, I was trying to find someone who has international experience. However, most of the ones who do are either dead, too old or disapprove of me being Hokage. At the end of the day, you were really the best choice."

Shikamaru sighed as he scratched the back of his head "I see, man this is a drag...Well, what would I primary be doing? Other than paperwork and the such?"

"Communications and relationship building primarily. Maintaining a close bond with Kiri is important, especially given the past of our two villages. Also, should any disputes happen, then it would be your job to begin discussing solutions, and then communicating with your counterpart. That's all I read up on, but if it involves anything else, Kakashi can help you." Naruto gave a smile towards Shikamaru, who seemed to sigh as he stuffed his hands inside of his pockets.

"Well, I guess you can't really go to anyone else right now, especially with the low numbers we have thanks to that attack. Still, though, I know you mentioned to me that you've been building relations back up with Suna as well, I'd figure you give them an ambassador before Kiri." Naruto seemed to nod in agreement as he leaned back and crossed his arms.

"Well I'm working on it, but I don't know who to send…" Silence seemed to follow for a few minutes, causing Shikamaru to shrug his shoulders.

"Why not send my dad?"

"Huh? Your old man?" Shikamaru nodded as he seemed to loosen up his shoulders.

"Yeah, he has experience in stuff like that. When I was younger, he used to tell me stories of having to deal with other leaders and the such and negotiate at times. I mean come on Naruto, you were there when he told some of those stories."

"A-Ah yeah I guess, though how much of them were true and how many were just for the sake of telling a story?"

"I doubt they were lies, especially since he still references them. Hell, he told me an entire story the when I told him I was promoted to Chunin, so if anything they help. If you don't believe me, why not ask him? It's not like he would lie to you about it."

"Well I guess that's true, and I do trust your dad quite a bit." Naruto seemed to think for a moment before he nodded and looked up at Kizashi. "Hey Kizashi, can you talk to Shikaku for me and ask him if he does have any experience on foreign affairs; and if he does can you ask him if he would agree to be the ambassador to Suna?"

Kizashi nodded and saluted as he vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Naruto, Kakashi, and Shikamaru alone together. "I doubt dad will turn the offer down; I think he's getting a bit bored sitting at home all day."

Shikamaru gave the rare joke and a small smile as Naruto chuckled and nodded "I don't know, he's about as lazy as you isn't he?"

"Trust me I wish he were, would save me a few headaches." The two of them shared a small laugh as Naruto pushed himself up from his seat and spoke.

"Well Shikamaru, go ahead and rest up some. The Mizukage and her entourage will be here soon, so I'll call for you then to begin introductions."

"Ah right, I'm tempted just to go lay on the couch on the main floor...Well I better not, guess I should talk to dad one last time." Naruto nodded as Shikamaru gave a wave and left, leaving Naruto and Kakashi alone.

"If Shikaku accepts, that's both the ambassadorships done, so I guess one of the more stressful items on the list is done."

"Well actually now the even more stressful stuff starts, your ambassadors will be sending paperwork galore to you every week to sort through. It might be a good time to start looking for an assistant to help with that; otherwise, you're going to be swamped."

"Man it's one thing after another isn't it? Well, I'll worry about that later, it's not like I haven't done any paperwork yet. Hell that's all I've done for the most part, so what's a bit more?" Kakashi seemed to give a deadpan look to Naruto who tried his best to ignore it as he continued. "A-Anyway, onto other matters. The Daimyo should arrive rather soon shouldn't he?"

"I would say in about ten minutes at most. Once he's in the village, he will be escorted to the Senju Inn, where he will spend the night. Coincidently, this is also where the Water Daimyo and Mizukage will be staying as well. Also, should they arrive before morning, the Suna ambassador will also stay there until their office and living quarters are finished being arranged; which should be around tomorrow evening. Same would go for Kiri's ambassador if they came along with the Mizukage."

"I see...Well, guess I should head on over there and meet with all of them, especially because of the treaties we have to discuss." Kakashi nodded as Naruto grabbed his cloak off of the back of his chair and threw it on as the ANBU soon appeared and secretly escorted him and Kakashi to the Inn.

* * *

The sound of the seafood restaurant came into hearing range as Kurenai entered into the place, immediately spotting a tired Asuma and bored Sakura. She gave a small smile towards the group as she walked over and sat back down, Asuma immediately raising an eyebrow when he noticed she was alone.

"Ino go home or something?" Kurenai shook her head as she gave a small smile, her eyes darting over to Sakura as she spoke.

"No nothing like that, she simply decided to go spend time with her mother this evening is all. However, she did wish all of us a good time, including you Sakura." Sakura raised an eyebrow as she looked at Kurenai a bit confused.

"Huh? She wished me a good time as well?" Kurenai smiled and nodded, confusing the young genin even more.

"Indeed, she actually made it a point to say she hopes you enjoy the night; and also that you two should begin building a friendship together now that you're on the same team."

"Really…?" Sakura was having a hard time believing it for sure, especially how Ino acted around her earlier in the night. Still, Kurenai wouldn't lie to her she thought, so she had conflicted emotions on how she should feel on the matter.

"Yeah, she said she hopes you have a good night; and she hopes that you two might be able to become friends again like the old days."

"I-I see…" Sakura was really confused on the matter now, especially again everything that had happened just a few minutes ago. Kurenai wasn't one to lie to her of course, but she still found it hard to believe. She almost thought that maybe Kurenai had misheard Ino, but that seemed unlikely given her skill set.

Thinking on the issue for a bit, Sakura pushed herself up and sighed as Kurenai watched her in confusion "Huh? Is everything alright?"

"Y-Yeah everything's fine...I-I just remembered I have a few things to take care of is all um...T-Thanks anyway for inviting me Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei." The two of them just nodded as Sakura left the booth and left the restaurant, not even finishing her drink as she left the two jonin behind.

As soon as Sakura passed by her, Kurenai gave a small towards her direction, something that didn't go unnoticed by Asuma as he spoke in a hushed voice "Hey, did you say all of that just to get her out of here?"

"Oh of course not, I simply said it to get those two close to one another again. Both for the chemistry of your new team, as well as their own personal futures."

"Huh? Personal futures? What are you talking about?"

"Oh nothing much, I just learned a little secret about Ino that I think also applies to Sakura as well if the pattern continues. So I just decided to play a little matchmaker until the two of them are ready to accept those little secrets."

Asuma raised an eyebrow as he picked up his glass of saki and spoke "Little secrets? Matchmaker? What exactly are you talking about?"

Kurenai gave a small laugh as she also picked up her drink and raised it towards Asuma as she spoke: "Just doing the same thing that I did to get you to realize your feelings is all."

* * *

"P-Pops...K-Keep em coming…" Anko slurred her words towards the bartender as she sat down her eight glass of Saki, her mind full of alcohol as she could barely keep herself steady. Her face was blushed red thanks to her ever numbing mind, and she couldn't even think straight. She looked over to Choji beside of her and gave a sly smile "T-That candy...W-Will be mine…!"

Choji looked at her with almost a pity look, not even wanting to be in this competition in the first place. Even though he had never drunk before, he had easily swallowed his first eight glasses, showing no signs of intoxication no matter how much he drank. "A-Anko-sensei, we can go ahead and stop, I don't mind sharing-"

"N-No! I-I don't want...Need...Your pity…" Anko hiccupped some as she spoke before she looked towards the bartender again, her expression changing to one of annoyance "P-Pops! I-I thought I said to k-keep em coming…?"

The bartender simply shook his head as he picked up her glass and began washing it "Anko, you've already had close to fifteen drinks if I include the whiskey from earlier. If you were just another civilian, then I wouldn't care to run up your tab. But you're a ninja, and it wouldn't be good if you were sick for a few days because you drank too much, especially if an emergency happens."

"C-Come on pops...W-We're celebrating a-after all!" Pops again shook his head, causing Anko to just lower her gaze as she laid her head on the counter and spoke "F-Fine! B-Be that way...I-I'll just wear s-some of this off...T-Then I'll buy some more!"

Pops seemed to sigh as he didn't respond and continued cleaning her glass before he looked over at Choji's empty glass "Are you done, son?"

"Oh yeah, I'm done for the night." Pops nodded as he picked up Choji's glass as the conversation at the bar counter came to a crawl as Choji sat there awkwardly and Anko drifted in and out of conscious. After a moment, Choji coughed into his hand as he jumped off the chair "I'm heading to the restroom sensei."

Anko just gave a wave of the hand to show she didn't care as Choji nodded and left, leaving her alone as she mumbled to herself. However, a pair of eyes that had been watching the group made sure Choji was completely gone before they approached Anko, lust clearly present in their gaze.

Once they got close to Anko, they placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke: "Hey if you want, I can buy you another drink."

"H-Huh…?" Anko looked behind her to see a grizzly man, an older gentleman, who gave a toothy grin towards her. "A-Ah...Y-Yeah sure, t-that be great…!"

The grizzly man nodded as he looked towards pops and spoke "Hey old man, surely you can get me a drink, can't you? It's not like you can stop me from giving it to this little lady right here if I want right?"

Pops glared at the man, but didn't say anything more as he poured a glass of saki and gave it to the man, who simply laughed as he handed it to Anko "T-Thanks...I-I really appreciate it…!"

"Of course, anything for a lovely lady such as yourself." Anko laughed at his comment as she downed the glass of Saki and quickly slammed it down onto the bar counter, a relieved sigh coming from her as she felt her eyes drooping. "Now since I bought you that drink, perhaps you could do me a favor?"

The grizzly man placed both of his hands on Anko's shoulders, who was too drunk even to realize it as she replied: "H-Huh...W-What that be…?"

"Come back to my place with me. I have a few things I need assistance with and need help...Relieving a few things."

"...H-Huh...W-Well I don't know...I-If I'll be...Much help…?"

"Ah no, you'll be perfect." The man had a lustful smirk as he began to help Anko out of her seat as all Pops could do was watch in disgust "Now just come along you little-"

_Crack_

A cracking sound was heard as the man was suddenly hit across the face and thrown to the ground, his cheekbones broken as he was knocked out cold. Everyone in the room quieted down as they all looked towards the commotion, as immediately someone called out 'Whoa! The Endless Stomach just knocked that dude out!'

The one who had punched and knocked the man out was Choji, a glare in his eyes as he looked down towards the man with disgust "Didn't your mom teach you to treat women with respect?"

Choji spat that out as he looked towards Anko, who was both surprised and confused at everything as she held onto her chair for support."W-Whats...G-Going on…?"

Choji didn't say anything as he took her arm and placed it over him for support as he began trying to lead her towards the exit, even more, confusion plastered onto her face.

"H-Hey...B-Brat…! W-What are you...D-Doing…?" Choji didn't say anything for a moment as he carefully lead her to the door, only opening his mouth when he was sure he was out of ear range of the others.

"Where's your house at sensei?"

"...H-Huh…? W-Why does it…?"

"Just tell me, I'm taking you home for tonight." Anko didn't seem to understand in her drunken state, so she merely nodded as she tried to point and spoke.

"W-Well...F-First g-go...T-This way…"

* * *

"Ah Hokage-sama, it's nice to finally meet you in person!" The Fire Daimyo walked over to Naruto as the two of them exchanged bows to one another, the first time either one had spoken in person.

Though they had spoken over the monitor during the crisis in Suna, this would be the first time either one really got to know the other, which for the future of the village and the nation was an essential first step.

Accompanying the Fire Daimyo was his wife Madam Shijimi, who was forcefully holding onto a cat that clearly didn't want to be there at the time. She didn't seem all that interested in Naruto it appeared; however she at the very least gave a courtesy head nod towards him.

"Daimyo-sama, thank you for taking the time to come here today and be a part of the ceremony going on tomorrow."

"Ah, of course, Hokage-sama, I wouldn't miss it for the world!... However, I forgot my papers on the order we're going tomorrow, can you tell me once again?"

"Huh…? Oh...Um, Kakashi…?" Naruto looked behind towards Kakashi, who sighed as he pulled out a document and began reading over it.

"The ceremony will begin with a private breakfast between the Daimyo, Hokage, and Jonin which will take place around seven in the morning and will be served at the Jonin Headquarters. Guests are allowed by invite, which I'm guessing you will be inviting the Mizukage and Water Daimyo?"

Naruto nodded though he also spoke up "I'll also invite the Kiri Ambassador, along with the Suna Ambassador. I'll let them eat with Shikamaru and Shikaku so they can get to know one another since they'll be in contact with one another."

Kakashi nodded as he began to read again "Very well, oh and the Suna Ambassador is set to arrive around five in the morning, so I hope you don't plan on sleeping much tonight Naruto."

Naruto gave an awkward laugh as he scratched the back of his head, he highly doubted he would be able to sleep tonight, even if he tried.

"Anyway, during this time, the Chunin will be gathering all the civilians and arranging them around the front of the Hokage Tower where the ceremony will take place. Once all the civilians are gathered, the ANBU will patrol the streets to keep order, while the Chunin will be escorted to a reserved spot to watch the proceedings along with the Genin. After that, all of the speeches will commence, and then you will be introduced and have the Hokage Hat placed on your head by the Daimyo. Afterward, a parade will be held across the entire village in which the Hokage will partake in to wave to the villagers and finally the main event will end with a Grand Ball at the Hokage Tower. After the ball, the rest of the day and the day after will be the conclusion of the Festival."

Kakashi folded the piece of paper back up and placed it in his vest as the Daimyo nodded "I see, thank you for reminding me. Now Hokage-sama, perhaps we can get to know one another?"

"Ah yeah, sure." Naruto and the Daimyo walked over to a pair of chairs and sat across from each other, while the Daimyo's wife excused herself to the Inn's Dining hall. The two of them talked about a variety of things such as their personal lives, the things each of them had seen over the course of time, and even what each of them enjoyed doing in their spare time.

Finally, after about an hour of talking to one another, a knock was heard on the door as Kizashi entered and bowed "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Hokage-sama! The Water Daimyo and Mizukage have arrived."

The Fire Daimyo seemed pleased with the news as he clasped his hands together and spoke "Ah! It's been a while since I've seen Kushi in person! I wonder if he's up for a game of Mahjong?"

Naruto gave a small laugh at the Daimyo before looking towards Kizashi and nodding "Alright, go ahead and have Shikamaru come here so he can meet with them. Also, how did the meeting with Shikaku go?"

Kizashi gave a smile and nodded "You're all set in that area."

"Good." Naruto gave a thumbs up as Kizashi left, and from there the Daimyo and Naruto went back to their conversations, only being interrupted when Shikamaru came into the room. Though he was a bit surprised to see the Daimyo, he gave the respectful bow towards him before walking over and standing beside Kakashi.

A few moments after that, Kizashi walked into the room and spoke "Hokage-sama, Daimyo-sama...I introduce to you the Daimyo of the Water Country and the Mizukage."

Kizashi stepped to the side as the Water Daimyo was the first to walk in the room, tired looking from all the travel he had to do. As soon as the Fire Daimyo saw him, he called out "Ah Kushi! It's been a while!"

"Ah...Shoka...It's indeed been quite a bit of time…" The two Daimyo's shook hands as they began talking to one another about trivial things, ranging from past events to what each other would be having for breakfast.

However, the critical meeting was next as Mei Terumi, the Mizukage, walked into the room with a man behind her as she gave a smile towards Naruto "It's nice to see you again, Hokage-sama."

"Likewise, Lady Mizukage." The two kage's exchanged greetings and shook hands, the barrier that was between them before no longer present. "I hope the ride over wasn't too harsh?"

"Not at all, in fact, it was quite comfortable, especially when we received the extra supplies you sent."

"Glad to hear! I was worried it would be tiresome for you." The two of them gave a small laugh as Naruto suddenly remembered. "Ah right! Hey Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru looked up and nodded as he walked over to the duo. Mei immediately took in the sight of the young man, wondering just who exactly he was.

"Then is one of my best friends, Shikamaru Nara. I've assigned him to be our ambassador to your village." Mei was a bit surprised when she heard this, expecting some old man to have been chosen. Still, she seemed pleased as she nodded and extended her hand.

"I see, well. It's an honor to meet you, and I look forward to working with you Ambassador Nara."

"Ah...Likewise, Lady Mizukage." Shikamaru grabbed her hand and shook it, surprising him how soft and smooth her hand was, he expected with her being a kage, she would have a firmer grasp. Likewise, Mei was surprised at how firm of a grip Shikamaru had, expecting for him to be a bit softer.

Still other than the handshake shock, both of them seemed pleased to meet each other as Mei unhooked her hand and pointed to the man behind her "Then let me introduce my ambassador, Hokage-sama. This is one of my right-hand men; his name is Ao."

A man with blue hair and an eyepatch stepped up as he offered his hand to Naruto "A pleasure Hokage-sama."

"Ah right, to you as well Ambassador Ao." Naruto went to shake his hand, but Mei, for whatever reason, seemed angry at Ao as she whispered something into his ear, making him go white. "I-Is everything alright…?"

Mei immediately returned to her old as she nodded, causing Naruto to give an awkward laugh as he shook Ao's hand the best he could.

After the introductions were over, Kakashi coughed into his hand to get everyone's attention. "Ahem, sorry to interrupt. But dinner has been prepared for everyone on the roof to eat and enjoy the fireworks show."

* * *

Everyone seemed to enjoy the idea of eating as they all made their way to the roof, Genjutsu being applied to hide the participants on the top. Each table sat two people, so the Daimyo's sat together, Ao and Shikamaru sat to discuss working together and being in constant communication, and finally, Naruto and Mei sat together.

As soon as they sat down, Mei sighed as she spoke: "Finally, we can drop the formal talk we had to keep up around the Daimyo's."

Naruto laughed as he nodded "That's for sure, I felt like I was under intense pressure with the both of them just talking right beside of us."

"Very true." The two of them shared a small laugh as Mei relaxed and looked out across the village "I must say, this is much more lively than I was expecting. I thought it be a few private parties here and there, but wherever my carriage went, I saw people playing games, drinking, dancing, just having fun overall. This is much more like a festival than the one we had in our village."

"Huh? Was yours not like this?"

"Oh not at all. We had a few private parties here and there, but a sizeable fraction of my village is disappointed with the passing of the Fourth. After all, many of them are trying to pressure me to continue the Era of the Bloody Mist...Of course, I've already shoved it in their face by changing our graduation exams."

"I see, I read about how terrible that was...Being forced to kill the friends you went to school with? Almost like a battle of Hope vs Despair, it's just terrible thinking about."

"It very much was, as someone who grew up and had to go through that, it was one of the worst feelings in the world. Still, it was that hardship that allowed me to grow and become Mizukage, allowing me to change our village for the better. Still, I have much work to do; one of them is purging out the old guard and putting in the new."

"Well, I know that feeling for sure." Mei nodded as a waiter came over to them with a somewhat nervous expression.

"My Lord and lady, what will you have to drink tonight?"

"I'll take a glass of Wine," Mei answered as the waiter nodded and then looked at Naruto.

"Water's fine." The waiter once again nodded and left as Mei seemed surprised.

"Water? Not my first choice on a festival night." Naruto chuckled as he shrugged.

"Well never was one for drinking, especially since I grew up around my sensei. He got drunk so many times and did so many dumb things; he kinda got annoying after a while."

"I see if anything you can stay sober I guess. Still, if you ever come over to Kiri, I'll put aside a free day where you can have a few drinks and see if you can control yourself."

"Haha, thank you for the offer I guess. Speaking of Kiri, I hope Shikamaru will be a good ambassador for your village."

"Oh I think so, it looks like he and Ao are getting along. Also, he seems quite charming, so I look forward to working with him. I also must extend the same courtesy to you about working with Ao."

"He seems...Interesting but I trust your judgment." Mei nodded as the waiter brought the two drinks over and sat them down in front of the two. Mei raised her glass towards Naruto and smiled.

"A toast...To a new friendship, and everlasting peace between our nations." Naruto smiled as he raised his glass and moved it towards her glass.

"To friendship and peace then." Naruto tapped his glass against hers, and as soon as the glasses touched, a firework shot up into the sky and illuminated the darkness.


	15. Update 8-2-2019

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Update

So I have no excuse for why I've been quiet for so long now, and I want to be upfront and honest with every single one of you.

I have a drinking problem, and I recently served 30 days in jail for public intoxication and have been going to rehab. I've not updated any of you because I've felt embarrassed and disgusted in myself, and I was afraid to tell you all upfront, but I couldn't bring myself to make up a lie. So I simply stayed away, and went MIA, and I can't apologize enough.

However, I am ready to again embark upon the journey of finishing this story and I hope you all will continue to follow this story. The next chapter still might be a little ways off as I try to get my life together, but I promise I am working on it and will try to get it out as fast as I can. I hope you all are still excited for it, and look forward to it.

To brighten up the mood some, I want you all to tell me ideas for some relaxing chapters. It's been pretty serious so fall, so after the ceremony; I wish to have a few chapters of character buildup and just some downtime before the next arc. I welcome anything no matter how crazy it is.

Again I apologize, but I hope that as my life gets better, so will this story. Thank you all for being patient, I love all of you guys and gals.


	16. Legends I: Everlasting Legacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Legends I: Naruto Uzumaki, The Fifth Hokage, didn't know how he would get through Sarutobi's Funeral, especially after attending the Private Funeral; Yet he also never expected to receive two things from the past either. Two things that both The Third Hokage and his father had owned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was originally a one-shot stand alone story that was a spin-off of this story. My original plan was to have all side-stories as one-shots on my account, so not to get in the way of the main plotline. However, not everyone reads the side-stories, which prevents me from introducing major plot elements into them. So I've decided to post all side stories onto here as part of the "Legends Arc" which will give context to the world and what is happening all around.
> 
> Legend stories will usually be much much smaller than the mainline stories and will only appear when I feel like a certain part needs to be expanded upon or doesn't fit anywhere into the main story, such as this chapter right here.
> 
> For those who read the original one-shot, I have cleaned up the story some and even added a brand new scene; so it fits better into a larger future narrative.
> 
> For those who haven't, this is a short story of the moments before Hiruzen's Public Funeral. I couldn't find a good place to put this in the main story, and honestly alot of the actual funeral part would be rehashing the private funeral.
> 
> I hope this can help tide over the wait for the next chapter which is still early in devlopment, but I hope you all enjoy and I can't thank you all enough for the kinds words and encouragement you have given me; it means alot.

The dark cloudy sky above served as the backdrop to the day that nobody in the village was looking forward to, it was a day that was supposed to celebrate a life, yet it had since turned into a day of despair.

Sitting at his desk, Naruto just looked at the papers in front of him with longing eyes. Sure he had already gone to the private funeral and said his peace there; But today was the day that the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, would be laid to rest.

He didn't really know how to react to it all, yesterday he was trying to deal with Sakura and Ino, and today he had to attend the very public funeral of one of his mentors.

He had been informed that most of the branch family of the Sarutobi clan had already departed and were on there way back to their respective villages; so any awkward things that may have happened at the private funeral wouldn't be brought up.

Naruto sighed as he leaned his head back in his chair, not really knowing what to do. He had more paperwork to take care of; yet he didn't feel like doing any of it. It didn't help that he would have to depart to attend the funeral in just a matter of a few hours.

Suddenly, a knock was heard on the door as Kakashi suddenly came in dressed in all black as he was carrying something "Oh, Kakashi-sensei…"

Kakashi just gave a nod towards him as he walked over to the desk and laid some clothes down on it, they were all black yet had the Uzumaki symbol on the back of the shirt "Custom made funeral clothes, your tailors spent all day yesterday working on them."

"I-I didn't know I had tailors…" Forever impressed by how many people or things he had, Naruto lifted up the shirt and looked it over; the texture and design of it was astonishing. "Wow, this is really good."

"Well, they were made for the Hokage after all." Naruto had a small smile come over his face before it suddenly vanished, thoughts filling his head as he held the clothes in his hands "The Hokage huh?"

"Hm?"

"..." Naruto was silent for another moment before he closed his eyes, letting all of the memories of the old man fill his head "You know, I always wanted to be Hokage."

"Yeah, you never would shut up about it." Kakashi used a joking tone to raise the mood, and Naruto did let a small slip out.

"I also always wanted the Old Man to be the one who would put the hat on my head as a transfer of power." Kakashi lost his somewhat joking tone as he looked at Naruto after he had said that, closing his eye right afterwards.

"I see, that was always the custom." Kakashi looked over on the side of the desk where the Hokage Hat was laying, the authority it brought with it was immense. "To think, you would be the first Hokage that was chosen by the Daimyo."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Don't you know? It's customary for the current Hokage to appoint his own successor; and for the Daimyo to confirm it before going to a final vote with the Jonin Council. Every Hokage before you was appointed by their predecessor, including Sarutobi-sama. Even back when your father passed away, Sarutobi-sama was just picked by the Jonin Council to resume the position. He had only been out of it for a year and a half anyway by that point."

"Well, it's not an honor I wear proudly. I'll always have an asterisk in the history books of not being the successor the previous Hokage wanted. Though when you think about it, who is my predecessor? The Old Man? Or my Dad? Either way, I have big shoes to fill with both of them."

"Yeah, you certainly do." Kakashi didn't really know what to say as Naruto comentated to himself, asking questions that didn't have a right or wrong answer.

Before the conversation could continue however, Dragon appeared beside Naruto in a kneeling position "Hokage-sama! A visitor!"

"Who is it?" Naruto looked over at Dragon with somewhat non caring eyes, expecting it to be just Sakura or someone.

"Lord! It's the head of the Sarutobi Clan, Ibiki Sarutobi!" Naruto perked up at the name as he straightened himself out and nodded.

"Ibiki...Alright, send her in."

"Lord!" Dragon vanished as silence followed, Naruto questioning somewhat why Ibiki was here while Kakashi merely walked to the side to allow her to speak to Naruto.

After a moment, another knock was heard as the door opened to reveal Konohamaru in front, with his mother Ibiki in the back; both dressed in black robes. Konohamaru had a downtrodden look on his face, but perked up some when his eyes landed on Naruto "Hey boss…"

"Hey Konohamaru. Good Morning Ibiki." Naruto gave a small head to the both of them as they both entered into the room, Ibiki holding a letter in her hand.

"Good morning Hokage-sama." Ibiki did as best of a bow as she could in her wheelchair as she rolled herself up to Naruto's desk, a small smile on her lips "It's good to see you again."

"Likewise, although I believe I told you to just call me Naruto." Ibiki gave a small laugh as she nodded.

"Very well...Naruto-sama." Naruto gave her a blank stare, causing her to laugh some more as she waved her hand "Just joking of course. I'm glad to see you're well Naruto."

"Thank you, Ibiki." The two of them exchanged pleasantries as Naruto leaned back some, a bit more at ease now that he had entered into conversation with them "I'm surprised you're here, I would have thought you'd be heading to the top of the Hokage Mountain already for the funeral."

"We were on our way; however I needed to stop by to give you something before I headed on."

"Hm? Give me something?"

"Yeah, but before that; Konohamaru wanted to give you something as well." Ibiki looked down at Konohamaru who just gave a head nod as he walked around Naruto's desk as he reached inside of chest pocket and pulled out…

"A Handkerchief?" Konohamaru pulled out a white Handkerchief with the Hokage symbol in the middle of it, and placed it in Naruto's hand.

"Y-Yeah...T-That was Gramps…" Naruto looked up at Konohamaru and gave a sad look as he spoke.

"Konohamaru, why are you giving this to me if it belonged to the Old Man?" Konohamaru was quiet for a moment as he looked to the side, causing Naruto to reach his hand out "Konoh-"

"It's because you deserve it." Konohamaru quickly said the words causing Naruto to stop and give him a questioning look.

"I...Deserve it?" Konohamaru just slowly nodded, causing Naruto to keep the questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"..." Konohamaru struggled to find the words before taking a deep breath as he began to speak. "Gramps always carried that around with him, he said it was something that had been passed down to him from his sensei. He never used it, saying it was too valuable of a good luck charm to use. H-He also passed it down to your dad."

Naruto went a bit wide eyed as he heard Konohamaru speak before he looked back down at the Handkerchief "Dad had this?"

"T-Thats what I've heard anyway. Mom said apparently that when they were examining your dad's body after he was killed, they found that, unharmed, untouched. Like it was meant to never be tainted."

"R-Really?" Naruto looked down at the Handkerchief one last time as he gave a small smile and nodded with determination. "Well then, I will do everything I can to uphold that. Thank you, Konohamaru."

"D-Don't mention it boss. I-I just wished it could have been gramps to pass it down to you, instead of me." Konohamaru had tears in his eyes but he wiped them away as he shook his head "I-I can't cry…"

Konohamaru whispered the last part, but Naruto was able to pick it up as he gave a sad look and got down onto his knees as he wrapped his arms around Konohamaru.

"W-Whoah Boss, what are you-"

"It's OK Konohamaru...I know you've already cried once...But I know from experience, unless you get it all out the first time, it's going to keep coming back…"

"B-Boss…" Konohamaru didn't move for a second, but not long after his body began to shake as it collapsed into Naruto's arms, tears streaming from his face as he cried the hardest he had ever cried.

Hiruzen was the closest thing he had to a father figure after Konohamaru's father was killed when he was young. THough it wasn't his fault, he always blamed himself for his father's death, saying if he was stronger he could have stopped it.

So when Hiruzen was killed, he blamed himself once again. He kept trying to tell himself that he just needed to be stronger; if he were a little bit stronger he could have saved his grandfather.

He blamed himself for everything that went wrong.

He never wanted it to become public.

Even when he gently cried on Naruto's shoulder the first time, he still held it all in.

But today?

The day that his grandfather would finally be put to rest?

He couldn't hold it in.

He couldn't keep the pain hidden.

And with Naruto offering himself to be a beacon that Konohamaru could put his trust in and to stop blaming himself?

He had to let loose.

Konohamaru cried hard onto Naruto's shoulder as Ibiki rolled herself around and stroked her sons hair, tears also gently coming out of her eyes at the scene. She knew what her son was going through and she hated that he couldn't do anything for him at times.

So thats why she couldn't thank Naruto enough.

For the longest time she had to hide her respect and gratitude towards him.

But no longer.

Now she also had to show it.

Naruto held Konohamaru close for a few more moments until his crying was just soft sniffling as Naruto gently let him go, as Konohamaru wiped his eyes off. Naruto gave a small smile as he ruffled his hair "I promise Konohamaru, I will keep the memory of your grandfather alive."

"I-I know...You will…" Konohamaru had to talk through the gasps as his mother pulled him close as he laid his head in her lap and gently cried still, Ibiki stroking his hair as he did so.

She looked back towards Naruto as Konohamaru cried and gave a small smile as extended the letter towards him "Whats this?"

"This is also something from father, it was the letter he wrote to the Fourth right before he took over." Naruto looked up at Ibiki in surprise as she gave a small smile "I know it was written to your father, but just like the handkerchief, I think you should be the rightful owner of it now."

Naruto looked at the letter as he took it from Ibiki's hand and looked it over, a small smile on his face as he opened it and took out the old letter as he began reading it.

" _Minato, First I must say…"_

* * *

_15 Years Ago_

" _Minato, First I Must say congratulations on being approved by the Jonin Council on being the Fourth Hokage._ " The hand of Hiruzen Sarutobi swiftly wrote as he smoked his pipe, the moonlight illuminating down onto his paper. _"It's not a job that just anyone can do, yet I feel you have demonstrated yourself as someone who can not only do the job, but thrive in it as well. Your love for this village is evident, as is Kushina's. When her and Biwako got together the other day for tea, I could just hear the love in her voice for this village and I think you've helped her quite a bit in that regard."_

Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe as he stopped and looked outside, the sound of crickets chirping being the only thing to break the silence before he continued _. "Though many things will be expected of you as Hokage, the number one thing you must accomplish is to guide the youth of this village to a bright future. They are the ones who will build the future and take this village to heights it has never seen before; and it will be your goal to guide them there and make sure that they reach their full potential."_

" _This world is full of many threats and the road to peace will not be easy to achieve, yet I think if anyone can lead us to a future of peace, it is you. It will not be easy of course, the other villages, even our allies, will be looking for an opportunity to strike when we are weakened and it is because of that, that you must always be ready to strike and defend. Yet I feel like you have the charisma to maybe lead us out of the senseless wars that have defined my generation, and into an era where peace reigns supreme."_

A knock was heard on the door to Hiruzen's room, causing him to sigh as he signaled to them that it would be a moment.

" _Let me end off with this, I know you and Kushina have been talking about starting a family. I want to let you know that if you need some time away to help raise your child, I will gladly help and support you along the way. I promise to help guide your children on the path to a righteous and rich life, and I promise that this village will support you in every way it can, and for generations to come."_

Another knock interrupted him as Hiruzen laid down his pen and pushed himself up from his chair as he turned and placed the hat upon his head as he spoke "Enter…"

The door opened up as a white haired man walked in and closed the door behind him "Sensei, good evening."

"Hm? Jiraiya? It's rare to see you pay me a visit so late at night."

"Yeah I know, I've just had a few things on my mind that I needed to talk to you about." Hiruzen nodded as he walked over to the window and looked outside.

"It's about Minato, isn't it?"

"Yeah...I'm worried how the other villages will react to him becoming Hokage; Especially Iwagakure. Their own kage has a deep hatred of Minato and might try to provoke a way when he hears the news."

"I understand your concern, and indeed, the scars Minato has left on Iwa will never go away for the ones who lived through it. However, we cannot have other villages dictate our own politics. After you declined the position, Minato was the next best thing."

"I would argue in terms of raw skill and personality, Minato is the best choice to become the Fourth. However, there is something else that concerns me as well." Hiruzen puffed some of his smoke as a sigh could be heard.

"You're referring to Orochimaru, are you not?"

"I am...He was talking non stop about how he was destined to succeed you and become the Fourth Hokage, yet when it was publicly announced Minato was chosen...I've never seen such a vile and disgusting look on his face before."

"Indeed, and I also know that Orichimaru has always viewed Minato differently than he does the others. I don't know the reason why, but I fear this view of his is also the reason he held such a look when Minato was chosen."

"Sensei, you don't think they're connected do you?"

"You would know the answer to that more than I do Jirayai, you are Minato's sensei after all. Still, I can not discount the possibility either...Because of this, I want you to promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"If Minato shows to be an incapable leader, something I think is very unlikely mind you, but still a possibility, and I'm not around any longer...I want you to go to the Daimyo and have him replaced."

"Sensei…"

"As I said, I do not think this will ever come to pass, no matter what Iwa or Orochimaru does or what they have in mind. Still, I want you to guide him and help lead this village. Still, should the day passes that you lose all faith in him…"

"I-I understand...But, who would take over?"

"I would advise for you too, but I doubt that will happen. If you want an honest opinion, I believe Tsunade would make a fine Hokage; Or perhaps...Even Itachi Uchia. Of course, it's possible that the Fifth Hokage isn't even around yet."

"I hope they're not, because that would mean Minato ruled for years and never strayed."

"Yes I have to agree…" Hiruzen turned and walked back over to his desk.

"Ah sensei, I actually have one more thing to ask you about."

"Hold on just a moment…" Hiruzen picked up his pen and wrote…

" _Sincerely, The Third Hokage…_ "

* * *

_Present Day_

" _Sincerely, The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi."_ Naruto gently closed the letter and placed it on the desk as he ran his hand through his hair and looked outside, tears wanting to come out yet he forced them down.

Ibiki noticed this as she gave him a small smile as she motioned for Konohamaru to raise himself as she did a small bow "That is all Hokage-sama, I wish you a good day."

Ibiki turned her wheelchair to leave with Konohamaru right behind her, with Konohamaru giving a small wave as he left.

As soon as they opened the door and left, Naruto just shook his head as he looked up at Kakashi "Kakashi-sensei...I really wished I could have met my parents, they sound amazing."

"Yeah, they most certainly were." Naruto gave a small smile as he got up from his chair and grabbed the black clothes "Well; I guess we should be heading on soon. I'm sure the ANBU want me somewhere specific for security reasons."

"Yeah, lets go." Naruto nodded as he opened a drawer on his desk and placed both the letter and Handkerchief inside, and went to grab his clothes when a sound stopped him.

It was the sound of rain.

Naruto looked out his window as rain began to fall from the sky; pelting his window. Kakashi walked over to him and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder "Even the Heavens are crying today…"

"Yeah…" Naruto felt a tear run down his face as he wiped it off as he grabbed his outfit and started walking towards the door. "Well let's go."

"Right, after all, we need the Hokage to attend after all."

"No, thats not quite it." Naruto looked back out the window as he smiled and confidently said "Today we only have one Hokage, and he is currently waiting for us on top of the Hokage Mountain; and his name is Hiruzen Sarutobi."


	17. Ceremony I: The Final Countdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Final Hours before the Ceremony of the Fifth Hokage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back! Oh my lord, I know I have explained everything and apologized already, but I am so so so sorry this took as long as it did! However, we are back and boy have I been waiting for this!
> 
> So first I want to prefereance that as a History Major, I've always enjoyed researching history and the like. One of the things I adore reading about are public ceremonies and innagurations; mostly because it always feels like a new era is starting, which is often true. It's like you're about to read a sequal to a really good book if that makes any sense. Because of this, I've wanted to really go into detail with this ceremony, so apologies if that upsets anyone. However it is a big deal, and so I want to show it off as much as I can.
> 
> Because of this, I've split the ceremony up into a few parts. This will of course mean that the overall ceremony will come out a bit longer than usual, but it also allows me to gauge people's reactions and also hear what everybody thinks. Also, I do remember a few of my mobile readers saying that long chapters can mess with a phone so I also took that into consideration.
> 
> Next thing is some of the subplots and the such and how people might interpret them. Now, I've tried to make this realistic and that includes taking the time period and of course this being a political story into account. Some people might think I'm trying to push a message one way or the other, but trust me when I say my personal views don't reflect on the characters what so ever. Take the Sakura/Ino plot into account, do I personally support gay marriage? Of course! But that doesn't mean everyone in the story will, because it's unrealistic. Likewise, do I support something like forced marriages and sex under 18? Not at all! But for a story like this, it's common because again, the time perioud and setting. Sorry for the mini-rant here, but I just want to squash any accusations that may arise from certain sub plots.
> 
> Thirdly, I usually reply to every review, but I haven't done that with the update or Legends chapter. That will return with this chapter here, I want to thank everyone for the regards and wishes though and I apologize I haven't been able to respond to all of them.
> 
> Last thing I want to say is that my usual editing program in Grammarly is unavaliable to use right now for me, atleast for a little bit. So because of that, I did all the editing by myself and using spell check. So I do apologize if there are any glaring mistakes, I promise to go back over this chapter when Grammarly is able to be used again.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy still and let the ceremony begin!

The sound of Hooves clapping against the dirt road and the creaking of wooden wheels was the only sound that resonated throughout the forest, the night sky slowly becoming brighter as morning was fast approaching. A singular carriage, the symbols for Suna on one side and Konoha on the other strolled throughout the forest.

Inside of the carriage sat the Suna Ambassador to Konoha, the sister of the Fifth Kazekage, Temari. She was dressed in a black dress that reached down to her knees and light makeup had been applied to her, much to her dismay. She had planned to travel to Konoha without any extra garments, yet due to the fact she was an ambassador, and also the fact she would be arriving on the day of the Hokage Ceremony, the Suna Council made sure she looked the part.

She had been traveling for three days now; the first day was spent doing nothing but walking to the River Country, yet as soon as she arrived at the border, a Konoha carriage awaited her to take her to the village. She hated the idea of being treated like some bigshot, but her entourage recommended for her to take the offer.

So here she was, sitting inside of the carriage after having just slept a few hours, as the carriage was getting closer and closer to the village walls. She was accompanied by her former sensei in Baki, and her brother Kankuro, with two Suna ANBU stationed on top of the carriage that were personally sent by Gaara. They wouldn't be allowed to enter Konoha, but they were there to assist in protection if needed.

The endless and monotonous sounds of clapping were interrupted as Baki suddenly spoke to Temari "Temari, are you about this? You have no political experience and our relationship with Konoha will mainly rest with your hands."

"Tch, I'll be fine. I prefer being on the battlefield, but it's not like I haven't talked to the brat before, afterall, Kankuro and I were sent by the council to negotiate with him."

"Even so, it's unlike you to suddenly have an amphony and decide to do something such as an ambassadorship. There has to be a motive behind such a decision, right?" Temari just shrugged as she looked out the window, the dark trees being an almost foreign sight to her. "It wouldn't have anything to do with the new Hokage would it?"

"..." Temari stayed quiet for another moment before she sighed through his nose "I just don't get him, how come he holds such a positive view on life despite everything he grew up with? It makes no sense."

"Hm? Is that why you took on this role, to figure out a simple mystery such as that?"

"No it's not just that...It's also because of Gaara."

"Huh? What about Kazekage-sama?"

"He grew up the same, you know that. He was feared by everyone and had no friends besides me. Even so, he eventually grew colder and darker, until finally he lost himself when he killed our uncle. He became the killing machine that father always wanted him to be, and was a weapon of mass destruction for us. He was to be our trump card in the fight against Konoha yet…" Temari closed her eyes and gritted her teeth some "He lost to that brat...Not only that, he somehow completely changed his life around! He claimed it was because of the fight, but you're telling me that no one, not even the sister who was his only friend growing up could get to him, but some random brat who bested was able to pierce through? It sounds like a load of bullshit to me…"

Temari gave another sigh as she opened her eyes and closed her mouth, not trying to rant as Baki just nodded "I see...Yes, you're not the only one with that question as well. The surviving council members are also confused and curious about how the new Hokage was able to do such a thing. Still though, to take on such a vital position because of a curiosity, it's a spur of the moment foolish decision Temari."

"Gaara approved it didn't he? So your opinion is invalid." Baki glared a bit at Temari before he leaned back.

"Well, I guess you are correct in that department...Lady Ambassador." Temari shot him a glare, hating a title such as that before the quietness returned. Kankuro just gave annoyed looks to both of them before closing his eyes, trying to get some sleep, as the slow monotonous sound of clapping continued on.

* * *

Naruto paced back and forth in his office, his robes already on as nerves were overtaking him. He had only gotten an hour or two of sleep, if even that. So his nerves were getting the best of him and he was in a pacing mess. Kakashi had been with him the entire time, while Kizashi had gone to help prepare everything.

It would be another three hours before the carriage would be arriving to take him to the breakfast, so he had time to calm down some. Still, everytime he looked outside to the streets, though most people had gone to take quick naps, alot of the citizens were still up partying and having a good time, no intentions of going to sleep. The sights made Naruto even more nervous, because he knew his announcement would make or break the festival for them.

As he paced around, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder making him stop "Naruto, pacing around isn't going to help anything you know?"

"I know, but still Kakashi-sensei...I know that today is the day everything really changes and it's making a pit form in the bottom of my stomach, a pit so dark and deep, that it wouldn't be filled no matter how much ramen I eat."

"Even so Naruto, you are the undisputed leader of this village. Some may accept you, and some may protest it, but the result is final and cannot be changed. You were picked by the Daimyo and approved by the Jonin Council so the opinions of others don't matter. Also, so what if not everyone accepts you? Many people rejected the Third, yet he came to earn their respects and well wishes. Thats all you can do Naruto, earn their respect and prove to them that you are the Hokage They Need."

Naruto looked up Kakashi and gave a small laugh as he nodded "I guess, I wish the old man was still alive. He could give me advice on what to expect...Then again, I guess he kinda did when I read that letter he wrote to dad."

Naruto took out the letter the Third Hokage had written to Minanto when he became the Fourth, clutching it tight. "Indeed, that letter is something you always need to cherish Naruto. Ibiki gave it to you for a reason you know."

"Heh yeah...She trusted me enough to have it, and I have to return that trust towards her and the rest of the village."

"Correct, that should be the first priority of every leader, no matter how big or small of a country or village they rule." Kakashi gave a smile underneath his mask and a head pat to Naruto before he looked towards the door. "Now, I have to head to the village gates to greet some guests. I'll be back within an hour."

"Ah alright, should I do anything until then?"

Kakashi gave a shrug as he walked towards the door "Well you can do whatever you want of course, though I recommend either filling positions across the village or saying your final pieces to anybody you can think of before everything gets really chaotic."

"Final piece...Well, I do want to talk to sensei before everything gets started. Hey Kakashi-sensei, could you send him in?"

"Sure thing."

Kakashi gave a head nod as he left the office, leaving Naruto all by himself as he let out another sigh and looked out the window, the morning sky starting to pierce the darkness "Everything changes today, I hope you'll guide me dad…"

* * *

The carriage wheels continued on until finally the gates to Konoha could be seen, the rising sun illuminating the gates as the driver of the carriage yelled out "Suna Delegates! We've arrived in the village of Konoha!"

Temari's eyes looked from the window to Baki, who just gave a head nod to her as they heard the sound of the old creaky gates open up before the carriage passed them by, a jonin standing on each side as they entered.

Once they had passed through the gates, the carriage slowly came to a stop as the gates were closed right behind them. After a moment, the carriage door was opened by one of the jonin who closed the gate, as they offered a hand to Temari.

However, Temari just swatted their hand away as she walked off of the carriage under her own power, with Baki and Kankuro close behind as they stepped down onto the village grounds. As soon as all three of them were on the ground, another jonin walked up to them as he spoke "Welcome to Konoha, Suna delegation."

"Hm?" Temari looked over at the jonin who had appeared as she raised an eyebrow "...You are…?"

That question was answered by Baki who stepped up beside of her and spoke "Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja."

"Copy Ninja...Oh right, I've heard of him." Temari looked towards Kakashi, who eyed her back as she spoke "So, any reason you're stopping us at the gates?"

"Temari-" Baki tried to whisper down to her, but Kakashi waved him off as he replied.

"Just giving you some details of today's events, Lady Ambassador." Temari glared at him as she took a step forward.

"It's Temari, I don't do titles."

Kakashi gave a small laugh as he nodded "Very well, Miss Temari. Now then, I want to make clear that we're not going to make you walk from here on out, we just needed to talk. Firstly, your office and living quarters are not quite finished, they should be by tonight, however if you wish to rest, we've arranged a room for you at the Senju Inn for you to prepare yourself and get some sleep."

Despite the proposal, Temari just shook her head "These two can go rest if they want, but I'll just head on to my office and get started working. Hanging out in a room all day doing nothing will just make time drag by."

"Very well, we can atleast get your desk ready by the time you arrive there. On to the happenings of today, as you have been informed, today is the Hokage Ceremony. The first proceeding is a private lunch with the Daimyo, Hokage and Jonin. As the Suna delegation, you are also invited along with the Kiri delegation."

Baki raised an eyebrow as he spoke "Kiri? I didn't know they would be present today."

"Ah yes, Konoha recently agreed to an alliance with Kiri, while the Fire and Water Country have agreed to sign a peace treaty after years of war. Thats why both the Water Daimyo and Mizukage, along with the Kiri Ambassador, will be attending today. Is there a problem with that?"

"Ah no of course not, unlike most villages, we've had no prior problems with Kiri. We will of course respect the decision to have them be here today." Though Baki seemed fine with it, Temari seemed to have a problem with something as she spoke up.

"Hey wait a minute, you said the Mizukage was here? Then why wasn't Gaara invited?" Temari seemed annoyed more than anything as Baki glared at her.

"Temari, thats-"

"It's fine." Kakashi interrupted as he once again waved Baki off "The reason we did not extend an invitation to the Kazekage or Wind Daimyo, was because we just had a battle in the heart of our village. Many of our shinobi may hold grudges and try to bring harm to them, which would not only risk their lives, but our relationship as well. We wish to have the Kazekage and Wind Daimyo someday visit us, but only when relations have improved."

Baki nodded as he looked down at Temari "Satisfied?"

"...Yeah…" Temari still seemed annoyed, but seemed to understand as well as she gave a sigh, trying not to let her emotions get the best of her.

Once it seemed she had nothing else to say, Kakashi continued. "So, Miss Temari, will you be joining us for breakfast? It would be a good time to get to know your counterpart, along with the Hokage you'll be working with."

Temari seemed like she was about to object, but then she closed her mouth as she sighed "Yeah...I guess."

Baki seemed relieved to hear as Kakashi once again nodded "Very well, I'll make sure to inform the cooks of your decision. Now after the breakfast, all of the guests, you included, will be seated up at the top of the Hokage Tower to witness the ceremony up close, afterwards you'll free to participate in the festival. Any questions?"

"...None…"

"Then, I'll see you at breakfast Miss Temari." Kakashi turned towards Baki and gave a head nod "Suna Delegation"

Kakashi turned and left, leaving the three Suna shinobi alone as Baki looked at Temari "Remember put your village above your own personal interests. It's why you're an ambassador after all."

Temari seemed to glare at him as she gave a simple "I know."

* * *

"Tsunade of the legendary Sannin…" Naruto flipped through one of his books that contained information on all of Konoha's citizens, both from the past and present as Jiraiya stood in front of him, arms crossed. "She is the granddaughter of the First Hokage and therefore is a Senju, because of this she is referred to as the princess of Konoha. She is one of the greatest medical ninja in the world, if not the best. She has a deceased younger brother who was killed when he was young, and has been married twice. Her first marriage was with the Konoha Shinobi Dan Kato, and lasted until he was killed in battle. Her second and current marriage is with Dan's Niece and Konoha Shinobi Shizune...Wait a minute…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow as Jiraiya spoke "Anything wrong?"

"No nothing is wrong, I'm just surprised she's married to another woman. I thought all of the major countries and villages were against such marriages since they didn't produce children?"

"Oh that...Yeah, Her and Shizune were married around four years ago I guess. They got married in the Land of Swamps, or the Swamp Country as others refer to it. It's only one of two countries that recognize her marriage, the other being the Land of Rivers."

"Hm? Land of Rivers huh...I received some rather strange messages from them, that contained gifts and the such. I don't quite know the details of why they were in such a giving mood, but for some reason I don't get that it was out of generosity."

"Well they are squashed in between The Fire and Wind Country, who just recently had a battle with each other. It's fair to assume they did so because from their point of view, war could happen and picking a side now would be for the best."

"Well, I guess. Well anyway, thats something to worry about for another day. For now, I need to learn as much about Tsunade as I can, since according to you, she's technically my grandmother. Still though...It's hard to believe."

"Yeah, it's far fetched to a degree. Still we can't discount it, and if it is true, it can help add to your legitimacy since you would be the great great grandson of the first, the third great nephew of the second and the son of the Fourth. It would show a sign of lineage that would only get people to trust you even more as the Hokage."

"I guess thats true, now all I need is for my kid to marry the Sarutobi family and all of us will be linked." Naruto gave a small laugh from his joke as he laid the book down and leaned back "Still, It's going to be interesting to see how the village reacts…"

Silence came in between the two of them as Naruto gave a small smile before another chuckle escaped from his lips.

"Sensei...I hope you guide me along the way, because I have no idea how I can lead this village without you by my side."

"Heh, of course kid, I've been there ever since you were a baby after all." Naruto nodded as he thought about everything that would be changing soon, and what he could do to help the village move forward under his leadership.

As he was thinking this, a knock was heard as Kakashi walked into the room and looked at Naruto. "Huh? Kakashi-sensei?"

"Naruto...The Suna Delegation has arrived, their ambassador is here." Naruto perked his head up before nodding as he stood up, closing his eyes for a moment and then speaking.

"Send them in." Kakashi nodded as he stepped to the side and allowed for the delegation to stream on in.

* * *

The first one to enter was Baki, immediately giving a bow towards Naruto "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hokage-sama. My name is Baki, council member and apart of Lady Ambassadors delegation."

" _Lady Ambassador? So it's a girl?_ Same to you, Baki." Naruto gave a head nod towards Baki, who straightened himself out and walked over to one side of the door.

The next person to walk in was Kankuro, surprising Naruto some as he also did a bow "Nice to see you again."

"Same, Kankuro." Naruto wasn't expecting Kankuro, he figured the delegation would all be Jonin. However, the person who entered next surprised him even more.

As Kankuro walked to the other side opposite of Baki, the next person to enter was wearing a black dress and had a giant fan on her back. Naruto raised an eyebrow as she walked into the room and looked at Naruto with judgemental eyes.

No words were spoken immediately, unlike with Baki and Kankuro. Temari seemed to be eyeing Naruto very judgmentally, while Naruto returned the look with one of curiosity. As the tension mounted, the silence was broken by a cough from Baki.

Closing her eyes, Temari spoke with indifference "Hope you've been well...Hokage-sama."

Naruto could tell she forced herself to say this, causing him to give a small smile as he began walking around his desk "Same to you...Lady Ambassador?"

Naruto used a questioning tone in case he was wrong, yet Temari responded by opening her eyes and giving a glare "Temari is just fine."

"Tem-" Baki tried to reprimand her for her inappropriate behavior, but was caught off as Naruto spoke back up.

"Very well, but only if you call me Naruto." Temari raised an eyebrow, thinking he was trying to mock her; yet when she saw no expression that indicated that, she merely huffed as she yelled out her hand.

Naruto reached over and grabbed it as the pair shook, the first step to re-establishing relations being taken by both sides.

The handshake lasted only for a few moments before Temari let her hand drop back to her side, yet she kept her judgemental stare on Naruto. Not being one to back down, Naruto kept his same stare as he took a step back as he began speaking "Well, Temari. I look forward to working with you. Your counterpart is Shikaku Nara of the Nara clan, he is also the father of Shikamaru; The one you fought against in the Chunin Exams."

"Tch, the brat who gave up, I know." Temari clutched her hands but didn't say anything else as Naruto nodded.

"Indeed, incidentally, Shikamaru will become the ambassador to Kiri; meaning that the Kiri ambassador will be present here as well, which should help Suna and Kiri begin to forge a good relationship with one another."

"...Yeah…" Temari knew that would be apart of her new job, and though she mostly asked for this job to get to know why Naruto was the way he was; She also knew she still had a duty to uphold.

"Still, we can get into the nitty gritty tomorrow. Today will be the biggest festival in my life, so I hope you enjoy yourself today!"

"I plan to get to work as soon as I can, but I'll at least eat breakfast with you. Never been one to enjoy all that festive shit." Baki seemed to give her a glare for her casual language, yet Naruto just gave a small laugh.

"Believe me, I can't wait for this to be over as well. I've gotten pretty much no sleep because of the anticipation, and it's kinda of a pain having to go everywhere and have a million ANBU accompany me." Naruto scratched the back of his head in annoyance as Temari gave a chuckle.

"Exactly why I'm surprised Gaara became Kazekage, can't imagine going everywhere with a group of blind followers protecting you." Naruto simply shrugged as he leaned back onto his desk.

"I wouldn't call them blind followers, afterall, I'm sure some of them would rather be enjoying the festival instead of protecting me." It was Temari's turn to shrug, and while it looked like the mood was starting to lighten up, Temari's small smile on her face suddenly vanished as she sighed.

"Anyway, I'm going to go to my office and see how it looks." Temari quickly changed the subject as she began to turn around, causing Naruto to give a questioning look.

"A-Ah, alright. Kakashi, can you lead them there?" Kakashi did a nod as he began walking over towards the group.

_**Growl…** _

The sound of low sound growl could be heard as Temari suddenly stopped, and after a moment she turned her head around to show her flushed cheeks "B-By the way...W-When's breakfast?"

Realizing what the sound was, Naruto couldn't help but let a snicker, which seemed to make her mad as he answered, "In about an hour and a half."

Temari just nodded as she quickly turned her head back around and quickly walked out of the room with an annoyed looking Kankuro and Baki while Kakashi followed them.

After they all had left the room, Naruto let out another laugh as he rubbed his hand over his desk "You know, as gritty looking as she is, that was actually kinda cute."

* * *

_Yamanaka Residence_

"O-Ow! D-Don't be so rough Mom!" Ino complained loudly as her mom, Sito Yamanaka, brushed her hair.

"Come dear, you're hair is a mess! I don't know what in the world compelled you leave the festival last night and begin training." Indeed, after Ino's little conversation with Kurenai, she had left the festival and gone to one of the training fields to clear her mind.

However, in the process, she had ended up ripping her kimono and getting her hair into an absolute mess. So not only did her mother have to give Ino a new Kimono, but she had spent the last hour brushing Ino's hair to try to get it cleared up.

As Ino continued to complain from the rough brushes, her dad suddenly walked into the room as he looked at Sito "I'm heading out."

"Hm? Already? It's still a bit away until your breakfast with the new Hokage, what's the rush?" Sito looked at Inoichi, yet still kept brushing, much to the protest of Ino.

"Security reasons, we have not only the Hokage, but delegations from other village; along with Daimyo-sama. I'm one of the few Jonin who was picked to assist the ANBU in making sure security is tight as it can be."

"Hm...Alright then. Oh! Don't forget to give the new Hokage the present I made for them!" Inoichi nodded as he turned to leave when Ino suddenly yelled out.

"Oh! I have something for him as well!" Wanting any excuse to get away from the brushing, Ino suddenly pushed herself up and ran past her dad out of the room; leaving him alone with Sito.

Sito sighed as she watched Ino run out of the room, pieces of hair falling off her thanks to the brushing "That girl, always forgetting until the last minute."

"Indeed, if she wishes to be a proper ninja, she can't keep putting things off until the end."

"I agree…" Silence came over the pair for a moment until Sito pushed herself up and walked over to her husband "So, me and Mebuki had tea together yesterday."

"Hm? Talk about anything interesting?"

"Oh nothing much, just the usual. The festival, the Hokage, work...And of course, about our daughters as well."

"I see…" More silence came over the two until Inoichi rubbed his temple "I'm guessing she told you the same thing Kizashi mentioned to me."

"Yes, I believe so." Inoichi nodded as he let out another sigh.

"She can follow whatever path she wants, I just hope she realizes that the two of them must contribute in other ways to make up for it. Such as adopting and teaching the kids both of their styles, though they wouldn't be able to pass down bloodlines…" Inochi frowned, yet Sito gave him a small smile.

"Please dear, it's nothing to get worked up over. She's still young after all, perhaps this is merely a phase."

"As much as I hope so...I doubt it…" Silence once again returned as Ino ran back into the room breathing had as she lifted up a basket. "Whats this?"

""It's-It's a bunch of bread I made last night! It's all kinds of different flavors, so I'm sure he'll enjoy no matter what!" Ino seemed to blush as she said this, yet Inoichi just sighed through his nose as he grabbed the basket.

"I'll be sure to give it to him."

"Thanks dad!" Ino gave a big smile, yet Inoichi just nodded in return as he looked back at Sito.

"I'm heading out." Sito nodded as Inoichi walked past Ino and out of the house.

Ino watched him leave with a look of hopefulness while Sito watched her daughter with curiosity. However, that was quickly replaced by a look of tiredness as she picked up the brush "Well, lets get back to work Ino!"

"W-What!? Oh come on Mom…."

* * *

_Hokage Tower_

Each step felt like the weight of the world got heavier and heavier, each step made him closer to publicly being shown off as the next Hokage of Konoha. Each step made his dream feel even more real.

Naruto walked down the steps of the Hokage Tower with Kakashi and Kizashi close behind, his robes being adjusted as he walked by two of his personal tailors; though he thought it was unnecessary. Jiraiya had opted to stay back and assist with setting up for the ceremony, though after he saw how charming some of the women who were setting up were, he quickly saw his sensei's true goal.

Still he didn't have time to argue with him, he was already a bit behind schedule due to the tailors; though Kakashi kept reminding him that he would never be considered too late or too early to anything.

As he approached the front door of the tower, Naruto saw that both Dragon and Tilapia were stationed at it. As soon as he came into view, both ANBU agents dropped to one knee and spoke "Hokage-sama!"

"Dragon, Tilapia. I kinda figured you guys would be at the breakfast already."

"Lord!" Dragon lifted his head and spoke "We have been assigned to be by your side until you dismiss us! Though I must regretfully inform you that your security will be low today, as it will just be the Tilapia and I as the rest of the ANBU must be assigned to protect Daimyo-sama and his wife, along with the Water Daimyo and Mizukage."

"I understand, it would be bad if anything happens to any of them. Well I'm not worried, I trust you guys! Plus, I have Kakashi and Kizashi as well if anything does happen!" Naruto gave his trademark grin and a thumbs up.

"Thank you for trusting us Lord!" Dragon gave a hard bow, causing Naruto to give a small chuckle. "Now then Lord. We have applied a Gen-jutsu to both you and the carriage so the citizens and low rank Ninja's won't be able to see you before the ceremony phrase of today."

"Huh? Me and the carriage? Wouldn't one be enough?"

"Well...It's a precaution, due to the amount of people."

"Hm?" Naruto raised an eyebrow as Kakashi walked in front of him and opened the doors.…

….

_YEAHHHH!_

As soon as the doors opened, Naruto had to take a step back as a thunderous cheer erupted when the doors were opened. Standing around the Hokage Tower were thousands of people, hell if not the entire village, as ANBU agents stood in front of them.

They ranged from older men to younger women, as all of them cheered and gave loud claps when Naruto, or rather his cloak, could be seen.

'Hokage-sama! Look Over here!'

'I love you Hokage-sama!'

'May Sarutobi-sama give you strength!'

Naruto heard all kinds of chants and words thrown at him as he could barely hear his own thoughts from the thunderous ovation. It made him get quite red from embarrassment, along with hammering home just how close he was to being the public leader.

"Hokage-sama! The carriage!?" Dragon had to yell to Naruto despite the close range as he pointed over towards the carriage. Turning his head as his ears still rung, Naruto nodded as he began walking towards the carriage…

Which just made the crowd lose their minds even more.

'Hokage-sama!'

They didn't even know who the Hokage was, yet they didn't care. All they cared about was that they had a leader to guide them after the tragedy that had just happened, and they couldn't have been more happy to see them, no matter who they were.

Reeling a bit from the all of a sudden outcry, Naruto kept walking to the carriage with Kakashi and Kizashi behind of him.

"Hey, why not give them a wave!?" Kakashi looked down as he yelled out to Naruto over the noise, and though he wasn't really registering anything due to the shock, Naruto nodded as he raised his hand and waved to the large crowd.

Immediately the screaming somehow got even louder as almost everyone waved back and cheered, the scene looking like some famous showman was performing on a grand stage.

As he got closer to the carriage, Kakashi quickly stepped in front of him and opened the door as Naruto stopped in front of the doors and gave one last wave until he stepped up and into the carriage.

As soon as Naruto stepped into the carriage, the insane sound of cheering suddenly vanished as he fell down onto the seat holding his ears, an intense ringing inside of them.

"This is why we have two genjutsu's lord." Tilapia appeared inside of the carriage on a knee as she spoke, "It's quite a massive crowd as you can tell, also the Genjutsu on the carriage prevents outside noise."

Naruto just nodded as he collected himself from what just happened as Kakashi and Kizashi both boarded the carriage as the door shut behind them as Tilapia vanished. Just a moment later, the carriage began moving as Naruto leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "Everything alright?"

Kakashi spoke in an almost worrying tone as Naruto nodded "Y-Yeah...J-Just need a moment to regain my hearing."

Kakashi seemed to give a sigh as he pulled down the drape on the window so nobody could see inside "Better get used to it, its going to be like this for a while."

"I-I mean...It can only get better, or rather, quieter from here...Right?" Kakashi shrugged as he leaned back in his chair.

"Well...You always have this carriage to retreat to." Naruto groaned as Kakashi gave a small laugh "Due to the crowd, I'm sure it will take a few minutes to get to the Jonin Headquarters. Might as well use this time to go over any questions you may have."

Naruto straightened himself out some as moved his hands off of his ears as the ringing, though still present, began to vanish "R-Right...Well, I'm wondering about that ball you mentioned...You do know I've never danced before right?"

"Well lucky for you then, because you don't have to if you don't want to. The Ball is usually reserved for the public to calm down and enjoy some dancing together. The top of the Hokage Tower will be sanctioned off for you and the Jonin to dance on, while the grounds around will be turned into a section for the Low-ranks and civilians to dance."

"I see...Well, I may sneak away from that then; not really my thing, you know?"

"Oh? Well, I guess you could always do what your old man did."

"Huh?...Oh, you mean dad? What do you mean?"

"Well, instead of him and Kushina dancing along with the others, they got to know each other some more…"

"Huh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow as Kakashi gave him a blank stare, while Kizashi immediately caught on as he looked away to hide a laugh. "What do you mean?"

"Like...Lets just say Sensei learned what made Kushina...Tick…" Naruto still gave Kakashi a confused look as he brought his hand to his chin.

"Tick...A clock…?" Kakashi just stared at Naruto with an even more deadpanned look.

"Remove the L."

"Huh?"

"The word Clock...Remove the L."

"Remove the L from Clock? Then you get co-" Naruto stopped himself as an uneasy silence came over the two as the two shared deadpanned looks.

….

….

…."Kakashi-sensei…"

"Yes?"

"Have you been reading Sensei's books again?"

"Hm? What do you-"

"Because if you have...WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME ABOUT A SCENE FROM THE BOOK?"

"Huh?"

"Dad would never tell you if mom and him did something like that!" Naruto seemed like he wanted to barf thinking about it as he shook his head "It's obvious you read from Sensei's books and just inserted my parents into it because your some sick pervert!"

"Well...the thing is, you're right...You dad didn't tell me about it."

"Ha! I kne-"

"Your mom did."

"..."

"..."

Silence once again came over the carriage as Kizashi placed his face into both of his hands as the Copy Ninja and Hokage eyed each other once again.

"Kakashi-sensei…"

"Yes?"

"I know which book of Sensei's you've been reading…"

* * *

_Haruno Residence_

_YEAHHHH!_

A loud roar erupted from outside, causing the house to shake some as Sakura turned from the mirror and looked out her window "What's going on?"

"Hokage-sama!" Chants of Hokage-sama erupted throughout the crowd as Sakura turned towards the Hokage Tower and just barely could see a figure clad in white exiting from the doors.

Sakura gave a happy gasp as she reached her arm out and yelled "Na-"

Before she could even get the first syllable out, she was suddenly pulled back into her room by her mother "Don't! Not until the reveal!"

"O-Oh right...Sorry mom." Sakura gave an apologetic bow as Mebuki sighed and shook her head.

"Honestly Sakura, you're a genin now, you should know standard protocol."

"R-Right sorry, I've just had a lot of things on my mind recently. Guess I wasn't really thinking...Plus, it's exciting you know?"

"What, the Hokage finally being shown off?" Mebuki gave a smile towards Sakura, and though she returned it, she quickly turned back towards the window.

"Well yeah, but also because he's one of my friends, and my teammate...Or, I guess former team mate." Sakura walked over to the window and grabbed the edges. "He was someone I thought I knew about for so long, yet...it's obvious that I never really knew him. It's exciting in a way, because now I can finally get to know the real him."

"I...Kinda get what you're saying I guess. Though you're contradicting yourself by calling him your friend, and then saying you can get to know him. Shouldn't the get to know part come first?" Mebuki gave a small laugh as she began adjusting the stash on her kimono.

"A-Ah right." Sakura blushed from her contradictory comments as she shook her head "I-It's just hard to explain I guess...M-My heart tells me one thing and my head tells me another."

Mebuki looked up at Sakura and gave a small sigh as she replied "Well...What is your heart saying? That he's a friend? Or that you have to get to know him?"

"...I...Don't know...It's weird I guess...As I said, I don't really know how to explain it I guess." Sakura kept staring outside as the loud crowd blasted through the window as Mebuki walked over towards her.

"Usually the heart is the most complicated part of the body, yet because of that, it's also the one that deceives you the most."

"Hm? That was vaguely poetic." Mebuki gave a laugh as she patted Sakura on the back.

"Just telling you a life lesson I learned years ago, sometimes the answer to your heart's question is closer than you think. Perhaps the answer could even be hidden in the deepest parts of the Mind."

"Mind?" Mebuki nodded as she herself looked out the window to the festive village.

"The path you choose may not be the most popular one or the one that you initially wanted, but once you start walking said path, you can't stop until you reach the end."

"Ok…? Now you're the one sounding weird." Mebuki chuckled as she looked over at Sakura.

"You're understand what I mean soon enough! Anyway, I'm meeting up with some friends to have breakfast before the main event; would you like to join me?"

"Oh! Sure! Who are we going with?"

"Isn't it obvious? The Yamanaka's of course!"

"So...This is the Jonin Headquarters." After a carriage ride that got ever more awkward as it progressed, it had finally arrived at the Jonin Headquarters. The entire area was even more sanctioned off due to the security, as the carriages for the Mizukage, Water Daimyo and Fire Daimyo were already present.

Now it's not like Naruto had never seen the Jonin Headquarters before, it may have been on the edge of the village but it was still clearly visible. Still, he never had a reason to come here before; and he had never seen the building up close before.

"Yeah, it's not that grand but it's a place of operations I guess." Kakashi walked up to Naruto and spoke with a somewhat casual tone.

"I've been here twice, once as a messenger and once as a Jonin since you promoted me." It was Kizashi's turn to speak as he walked over to the pair as well "Not all that interesting of a place to be honest, it's almost like any old office building."

"Well I'm sure they've spruced the place up some for the Hokage's visit." Kakashi joked towards Naruto before he began walking forward "You ready?"

"Ah yeah…" Naruto gulped as he followed Kakashi, with Kizashi following him in turn as the trio walked into the building, the distant sound of cheering and flutes could be heard in the background.

Naruto walked with heavy steps as he entered into the Jonin building, and like Kizashi had said, the building was pretty much an office building. Sure the place did have additional decorations on display, and the route that Kakashi was leading Naruto on was indeed spruced up.

However, whenever Naruto looked down an unrelated hallway or into a door of a room, it definitely looked more mundane. Not that he was all that surprised, he at the very least knew that this building was more for mission sharing and communications with teams that had been sent on missions.

He also knew this was where the Jonin Council regularly met, with the only exception being the Hokage vote. Speaking of Jonin Council, he wondered who the new chairman would be now that Shikaku was an ambassador. He also knew that they would have to add two more members to replace Kakashi and Shikaku, but out of all the Jonin, he wasn't quite sure who would be chosen.

Still that was a matter for another day.

The trio kept walking through the hallway until Kakashi finally stopped in front of a staircase as he turned around and faced Naruto directly "Once we reach the top floor, the ceremony will officially begin...Are you ready?"

"Yeah...I've...I've been ready for as long as I can remember." Naruto gave a confident smile to Kakashi, who could be seen giving one under his mask in return.

"Very well then. Let's continue on, Hokage-sama." Naruto just gave a light chuckle as he felt Kizashi pat him on the back as Kakashi turned and began walking up the steps with Naruto close behind.

All kinds of thoughts ran through Naruto's head as he ascended the everlasting staircase, from things such as how louder or quieter the cheering would get when he was revealed, to the more mundane stuff such as what was for breakfast.

Finally, they reached the top floor; Which was covered in ANBU agents. As soon as Naruto stepped onto the floor, all of the ANBU dropped to one knee as both Dragon and Tilapia appeared in front of the group.

"Hokage-sama! Breakfast is ready and the guests are currently awaiting your arrival to begin." Dragon spoke as Naruto gave a nod of the head.

"Very well; lets head on then."

"Lord!" Dragon pushed himself up to his feet, a rare sight for Naruto who almost always saw him on one knee, as he turned and began leading the group.

They walked just a few feet until they reached a set of doors as the ANBU agents kneeling on each side both pushed themselves up as they grabbed the handle's and opened them to reveal a small room.

The room had another pair of doors on the opposite side along with two more ANBU agents standing on each side. However, also standing inside of the room were a group of Jonin, each holding the Konoha Flag and also a group of drummers. Naruto recognized them from his private ceremony a few weeks back

As soon as Naruto walked inside, everyone immediately straightened themselves out as Dragon walked over to the doors on the other side of the room as he turned back around "Hokage-sama! We shall proceed when you are ready!"

Naruto nodded as he merely gave a thumbs up, his nerves getting the best of him as he was afraid he wouldn't be able to speak. Upon seeing the gesture, the flag bearing Jonin quickly assembled as half of them formed a two pair line in front of Naruto and a two pair line behind him.

As soon as they were set, the drumers then took their places and were the same as the Jonin, with a two pair line in front and back. Once the flag bearers and drummers were in place, Kakashi and Kizashi walked to the front of the line and stood.

After seeing everything was in order, Dragon gave a nod towards Naruto as he turned around and faced the doors directly as the two ANBU agents grabbed the handles and opened up the door, and immediately Naruto could hear talking when they did so, though that quickly vanished.

The only sound Naruto heard after that was Dragon walking forward and then…

"Jonin of Konoha and our Esteemed Guests! Please welcome the Fifth Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki!"

As soon as the words were spoken by Dragon, the drumers began playing as the flag bearers lowered their flags and soon began marching forward with Kakashi and Kizashi leading the way, with Naruto trying to stay in line and not break formation as he was lead into the next room.

Almost immediately Naruto noticed two things.

The smell of delicious food.

And the sight of almost every Jonin in the village saluting towards him as he entered into what he presumed to be the cafeteria.

Immediately Naruto was able to see the decorations clearly as Konoha Flags draped one side of the room and the Fire Country's Flag draped the other side. Small round tables were set up everywhere with about four chairs at each one, and several waiters and waitresses were also present, though they had stopped and could even be shaking some as they witnessed Naruto walk into the room.

Naruto also noticed a long wide rectangle shaped table at the back of the room and the first thing he noticed were the guests, as the occupants at the table were the Fire Daimyo, Water Daimyo and Mizukage. Not only that, but where the Fire Daimyo and his wife was sitting, there was also a flag of the Fire Country. Where the Water Daimyo was sitting could be seen a Flag of the Water Country, and where the Mizukage was sitting there was a flag of Kirigakure. Finally, there were three empty seats, presumably one for him and the other two for Kakashi and Kizashi, as the flag of Konohagakure was beside it.

The group walked about halfway into the room before coming to a stop, making Naruto almost run into the pair in front of him. Right afterwards, the pairs in front of Naruto broke off to the two sides, with the pattern being a flag bearer and then a drummer and then a flag bearer again. As soon as the ones in front of Naruto had assumed position, the pairs behind him began moving forward and continued the pattern, until finally they were done.

Once they had finished, they had made a pathway that closely resembled, if not outright was the same from his private Ceremony as the bearers and drummers made a path all the way to the long main table in the back. Standing at the very end looking at him directly was Kakashi and Kizashi, and almost immediately Naruto saw Kakashi give a 'come on' motion.

Taking one more gulp, Naruto began walking forward and just like the private ceremony once again, each time he passed a flag bearer, they lowered the flag out of respect towards him.

Each step made a pit in Naruto's stomach grow even wider as he tried to hide a gulp as he kept walking forward as the drumming seemed to get even louder; Though that may just be Naruto's hearing playing tricks on him as his ears still tried to recover from earlier.

Finally Naruto reached Kakashi and Kizashi as they both gave a bow towards him, surprising him some, though he quickly realized that it was just a part of the ceremony.

Once they raised themselves from the bow, Kizashi stepped to the side and motioned for Naruto to follow Kakashi. Giving a nod in response, Naruto walked forward as Kakashi lead him to the other side of the table where the two Daimyo's and Mei were already sitting as all three of them gave a head nod towards him as Kakashi pulled the seat out for him as Naruto quickly sat down.

As soon as he had taken his seat, the drumming soon rounded out their playing as the Flag Bearers raised their flags straight back up and soon the sound of footsteps were heard as Shikaku walked in front of the long table and coughed into his hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as Chairman of the Jonin Council, I officially welcome you to the Ceremonial Breakfast of the Hokage." All of the Jonin clapped at his words, though it vanished as quick as it appeared as Shikaku raised a hand to hold the applause. "I would like to welcome our two great leaders who are here today. First is Daimyo-sama and Madam Shijimi."

Everyone applauded as the Fire Daimyo stood up and gave a wave towards the crowd, though his wife seemed more interested in trying to feed her cat than care about what else was going on. Soon the Fire Daimyo sat back down as he pulled out his fan.

"And of course, Hokage-sama!" Shikaku put a bit more oomph into his words, and using the Fire Daimyo as reference, Naruto pushed himself up as he gave a wave towards the crowd. The crowd all clapped for him, though more enthusiastically than they did for the Fire Daimyo and it almost seemed like they were cheering though that didn't last long.

Naruto could feel the heat rush to his face as he quickly sat back down, though the clapping continued on for another moment before dying down as Shikaku gave a small smile towards Naruto.

"I also would like to extend a warm welcome to Water Daimyo-sama and Lady Mizukage for being able to attend as well." Both the Water Daimyo and Mei stood up as the crowd once again clapped as they both gave a wave before sitting back down. "Finally, our last two guests. They are the new ambassadors to our village. First, from Kirigakure; He is a former Kiri ANBU agent and most recently served as a bodyguard for Lady Mizukage, please welcome Ambassador Ao!"

Sitting at one of the two smaller, though still slightly bigger than the average, table was Ao as he stood up and gave a bow towards the Jonin as they gave small claps for him before he sat back down.

"Now, I wish to introduce our next ambassador. She is a former genin from Sunagakure, and the sister of their new Kazekage, please welcome Ambassador Temari!"

Everyone looked over to the second of the two average tables as Temari gave a sigh as she pushed herself up and also gave a bow as everyone returned the gesture with clapping; Though a few whispers were circulated due to who she was and what had just transpired.

Still, the whispers quickly died out as the clapping came to a stop as Shikaku held up his hand once again "Now then, this is the last of the time we have today before the huge public ceremony begins, so I ask everyone enjoys themselves."

Everybody gave a loud cheer as Shikaku turned and quickly walked behind of the large table as he came upon Naruto.

"Hokage-sama." Naruto looked behind him and gave a smile to Shikaku.

"Hey Shikaku, whats up?"

"It's concerning my duties lord."

"Huh? Duties?"

"Yes, I know you wished for me to get to know the Suna Ambassador during this breakfast; however I'm afraid that since I am also in charge of preparations for the ceremony, and therefore will not be able to meet with them until the Ball tonight."

"Oh I see…" Naruto gave a sigh, he wasn't made or anything, though he was a little disapointed since he really wanted to help start establishing relationships with everyone today.

"On the bright side, Shikamaru is here and it looks like him and Ambassador Ao are already off establishing a connection." Shikaku pointed over to the table with Ao, and indeed; Shikamaru had already sat down with Ao and was conversing with him.

"Well thats good, though I hate that Temari won't have anyone to talk to and get started with." Naruto scratched the side of his cheek as a brief silence overtook them, only to be interrupted by the sound of heels and a new voice entering the conversation.

"Then, why don't we get to know our new ambassadors?" Naruto looked to his side and his eyes locked with Mei's.

"Oh Mei...What do you mean?"

"I mean why don't I go ahead and meet with Shikamaru, while you meet with that Temari girl? Then later you can go ahead and talk and meet with Ao. It's just a suggestion of course, you don't have to do it, of course." Naruto raised an eyebrow and then began to think for a moment before nodding.

"Thats actually not a bad idea! I'm glad you thought of it!" Mei gave a laugh and a simple wave of the hand as Naruto pushed himself up, causing some to tense up a little but a simple wave from Kakashi signaled that everything was alright.

* * *

"I see, so you're the heir of the Nara Clan then?" Ao spoke in an interested voice as Shikamaru gave a nod, his tired eyes not giving the fully story as he replied.

"Yeah, I'm meant to be anyway. Who knows though, that may all be changed by the time my dad steps down."

"Hm, even still, to be the heir to your own clan is an honorable feat I must say. I never had that honor growing up, ever since I was a young boy; I've done nothing but train and have fought in countless battles. Such was the times back during the day."

"Ah yeah, I've done plenty of research about Kiri's past. Especially about the Fourth Mizukage's reign and the time that it referred to the "Bloody Mist Era." Ao seemed to sigh as he gave a nod.

"Yeah, the time where we had no allies and infighting was constant. I can't say anything against the time since I would be lying if I said I didn't participate in the bloody events across the village, though I also would be lying if I said I'm not glad it's over." Shikamaru nodded as he grabbed the glass of water on his table.

"Moving on and having things change can be hard, trust me, I've tried to avoid changing as long as I can remember. I'd rather be asleep in my room all day than going to things such as this...Though I guess when your best friend is made Hokage, you can't really avoid change."

"Hm? You and the Fifth Hokage have a history together?"

"Yeah, no denying that. It started when we were both really young, like around four of five years old I guess. He was being bullied and me and two of my other friends went over and saved him. After taking a look at his body, it didn't look like the bully did much of anything to him physically, most of the scars just seemed to be mental. I can't blame him though, despite being trained from an early age, he was either bullied; Or worse, ignored by everyone. It came from the higher ups, thats all I know on the matter."

"Hm...The reason why high ranking officials do such things usually almost never come to light. Afterall, why would a bunch of higher ups clamor for a time where we killed our own brethren and ignored all kinds of diplomacy?" Shikamaru nodded as he brought his glass up to his lips before setting the glass back down.

"Hm...The Fifth Mizukage, whats she like?"

"Huh? Lady Mizukage? Well if I had to describe her, it would be that she's a long term thinker and an accomplished warrior. She was one of Kiri's greatest shinobi, and was once in charge of the ANBU at a young age. Of course, the ANBU were more of a killing squad than anything under Fourth Mizukage-sama...I'm sure this is one of the many reasons she hates the Fourth so much." As Ao continued speaking, he didn't hear the sound of high heels behind him until he felt a hand on his shoulder and then three words whispered into his ear.

"I'll Kill you…" Ao went pale face as he looked to his side and saw Mei beside him, causing him to go wide eyed. Despite the sudden threat, Mei quickly turned towards Shikamaru and gave a smile "Ambassador Nara, how are you this morning?"

"Fine, thanks for asking. Yourself?"

"I'm quite fine, thank you." Mei pulled out a seat and sat down beside Ao as she looked at Shikamaru "I learned about you some from Hokage-sama, and I must admit I'm impressed. To be promoted to Chunin at such a young age is no small feat, and to have a mind that you have is also quite impressive."

Shikamaru gave a shrug as he replied "I'll be honest, it's not anything all that special. My dad is much more qualified for stuff like this, I was honestly surprised Naru-Ahem, I mean Hokage-sama chose me."

"Oh I think you underestimate yourself Ambassador, I have no doubt that Hokage-sama chose you for a reason...Also, I understand you and Hokage-sama are quite close, so no need to be formal with him if you don't wish to be."

"It's apart of the job, he may be my best friend; But he's now also my boss as well. Besides, you're quite formal yourself."

"Well in my case it's more about showing respect to my equal counterparts; besides, Hokage-sama may be younger than me, but he is my senior in experience as a Kage. Still, I can refer to you as Shikamaru if you like, and in return you may call me Mei."

"It's fine, don't want a Kiri Shinobi to kill me because of a misinterpretation." Mei gave a small laugh, but also just nodded as she grabbed the glass that the waiter had just brought over. "Very well, Sir Ambassador."

* * *

"Tch, what's with such a grand show?" Temari muttered to herself as she looked over the menu that had been provided to her; while she was mostly commenting on the grand entrance for Naruto, she was also referring to the fact that the drumers had been playing different songs non-stop since then.

Not that she hated the music, it was actually rather good playing if she was being honest. It was more so that she didn't understand what all the grand ceremony was for. Sure, her father always had a ton of respect directed towards him and was always given the best of everything; but she never remembered such a grand ceremony for something as small as a breakfast.

Perhaps Konoha was just different, or maybe it was all apart of the public ceremony. Whatever was the case, she found it a bit annoying and also a little showboaty.

Temari leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes as she rubbed her temple before she was interrupted "May I get you something to drink Lady Ambassador?"

"Hm?" Temari opened her eyes and spotted a young girl dressed in all white with the Konoha symbol on the front, the standard waitress uniform for the village "...Anything's fine, just nothing too strong...Also, drop the formalities, call me Temari."

"Oh Ok...Understood Lady Temari!" Temari gave an inward sigh, not even bothering to tell her to drop the Lady part. The waitress turned to walk away, but suddenly stop as she almost screamed out "H-Hokage-sama!?"

Temari looked up and saw Naruto had walked over to her with a small smile on his face, the waitress taking a step back from surprise and confusion from the sight of him "Good morning Miyumi."

Naruto talked to the waitress quite casually, recognizing her as one of the girls from the Sarutobi private funeral. After collecting herself, she quickly did a bow towards him "G-Good morning!"

"You mind bringing me a glass of water?"

"N-Not at all Lord!" Miyumi quickly shot back up and nodded as she quickly turned and ran towards the drinks as Nartuo grabbed a chair and sat down in front of Temari, who was still eyeing him.

"Ah, enjoying everything so far?" Naruto used a friendly tone towards Temari, though she still had a neutral look on her face as she shrugged.

"Too much showing off if you ask me, like I get it, you're in charge...So what?" Naruto gave a small chuckle as he nodded.

"I can disagree with you, it's a little too much I think...But I can also understand why the need for the grand showings. I'm the successor to the Third Hokage, one of the greatest Shinobi to ever grace this planet. I can understand why they're treating this like a big deal."

"Even still, my Father did everything he could for our village and was very well respected; and when he was killed by Orochimaru, the entire village heavily grieved. Yet when they named Gaara the Kazekage, it was treated as a big deal, but there was no parties like this. Just an announcement with a private party and nothing else."

"Well, that is the best way to handle things I believe; I believe the Mizukage mentioned the same thing about hers. Honestly, as I said, I think this entire ceremony is just to raise Morale and also introduced me to the public...Since, I haven't exactly been the most liked person in the world."

"Such is the life of a Jinchuuriki." Naruto raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.

"You knew?"

"A little Bird told me." Temari looked back down at her menu, not really interested in conversation as Naruto bit his lip.

"Well I can't disagree...The same is true for Gaara, isn't it?" Temari didn't reply "Honestly, I kinda envy him in a way...Despite all the hate he got and how much of a killing machine he appeared to be; He was able to change fast and be approved as Kazekage...Not only that, but the public in Suna knew right away and weren't held in the dark like the people here.

"..." Temari looked up from her menu as she stared at Naruto "It doesn't make sense you know...How could one man, a man raised to be a killer, suddenly turn into a leader who wishes to have compassion? The only clue I have is you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you...Gaara has repeatedly said that your the reason he changed, how he went from a monster to a Kage. Honestly, if thats the truth, it pisses me off."

"How come?"

"Because, you...Who, at the time of defeating Gaara, was nothing more than a genin that was despised by your entire village. A genin who acted like a trickster and seemed to have no maturity. A genin who seemed to not even care about his own circumstances. A genin that was able to change Gaara, something that I, his own sister, couldn't do in all the years I had known him. Thats why it pisses me off."

"..." Naruto was silent for a moment before giving a nod "I understand."

"Do you really though? You don't have any siblings, you don't know how terrible of a feeling it is to not only not be close to your own brother, but to outright fear him. You also don't know the confusion and frustration that comes from him suddenly changing because of some brat from a village that isn't even your own."

Naruto was silent once again as he closed his eyes and gave another nod "You're right, I-I could never understand that. Sorry…"

"Tch, it's whatever. It doesn't matter anyway, I'm just an ambassador, while you're one of the Five Kage's; so my feelings don't really matter in the end." Temari pushed herself up as as she straightened her dress out "I have work to get started on."

"H-Here's the drinks-Huh…?" Miyumi walked back over with a tray holding the two drinks, and as soon as she did, she saw Temari push herself up and storm off "Is everything alright, Hokage-sama?"

Naruto just watched Temari leave the room as he looked down at the table and nodded "Everything's fine...I just learned that I still have a long way to go."


End file.
